For Eternity
by The hungry Hybrid
Summary: The last installment for Yullen week, finally finished! Allen is a merman and youngest prince of 10 in the Ocean Kingdom. One day he explores a sunken ship when a ship comes, and Allen sees Kanda for the first time. Based of Disney's little mermaid.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my one-shot for the theme Eternity for Yullen Week Winter Edition. I had a real ambitious story for this theme and it's not even finished! Yes, this is just the first part of two (which I guess will be just as long as this one)._

_I wanted to write a fic with mermaids, so this is what happened. I'm inspired from "The little Mermaid" but there are a lot of twists in it (hopefully not to obvious)._

_I'm disappointed that I couldn't finish this by Christmas but I can't turn back time so..._

__

_I hope you enjoy this first part, I'll try to finish the second one soon._

* * *

**Part 1**

Allen was putting on his tight sweater-like garment when a guard knocked on his door. Allen swam to the door and opened it.

"What is it?" Allen asked the guard while trying to tame his slightly spiky white hair.

"His Majesty King Adam wants to see you, your Highness", the guard said, "He asked me to escort you to the throne room." Allen rolled his eyes and followed the guard. Allen was the youngest prince of ten of the Ocean Kingdom. And their father was King Adam or the Millennium Earl as he is called among the citizens.

A double door was opened and Allen swam so he was floating next to his brother Tyki, he was the last one to arrive.

"Good morning, sleepy head", Tyki greeted and tousled Allen's hair, the white-haired merman pouted and pulled away from the touch.

"Tyki please, I had enough trouble trying to make it look respectable", he said, Tyki just smirked.

"Then don't bother, you look better with that messy hair", Allen raised an eyebrow at his brother's comment but didn't continue the discussion since their father had begun to speak.

"My dear sons, daughters and grandchildren, I hope you all had a good sleep", some yes and yeah could be heard from the group of thirteen. The king smiled and continued. "Tonight I will hold a party for all of you…"

"What's the occasion?"

"Occasion hi!" Allen bent forward a bit so he could see the two who had interrupted the king. It was Devitt and Jasdero, or more commonly called Jasdevi. Devitt had short unruly black hair and golden eyes like all the others, except for Allen who had silver eyes, Jasdero had long blonde hair – it was kind of difficult to believe that they were twins, but Lulubell said they were, and who wouldn't believe their mother? Jasdevi were the oldest grand children, being fifteen years old, Road was the youngest with her twelve years, Allen was sixteen. Adam smiled warmly at his grandsons' antics and clapped his hands.

"Well, I love that two of my lovely children already have found someone to share their life with but I would like the rest of you to find that special someone as well," Jasdevi tilted their heads and then went:

"Eeeeeeeew!"

"Hehe, a party! Allen will you dance with me?" Road clapped her hands and swam to where Allen was, he nodded apprehensively, Road's face lit up in happiness as she smiled and then she swam to her father Cyril.

"Now then all of you can go", Adam said and smiled. As the other left Allen swam to the throne.

"Father…" he began.

"Yes, Allen?" The King asked Allen looked down and cradled his left arm; his father caught the drift and said reassuringly:

"Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find someone tonight who will accept you for who you are. Why don't you wear that fancy garment I ordered for your birthday?"

"But father, do I really need to go to this party? I'm not in the mood…"

"Nonsense! Go and find the mood! I want all my children on this party tonight", Adam said as his hands pounded on Allen's back. The prince pouted and swam to his room.

Ever since he could remember his arm had been that way; red and scaly – ugly in other words. People were afraid of it and therefore his father had a special garment made for him, it was tight and shimmering and it covered his whole arms and hands. It was matching his skin color but it could sometimes look green or blue, in the right light it could look just as silver as his tail fin. Another thing that made him stand out among his many siblings was that he had silver eyes while they had golden, he had white hair while the majority of them had black. He saw them as his siblings but he couldn't stop feeling like an outcast, though when he was with Tyki that feeling would go away.

He closed the door to his room and just as he did something golden slammed into him.

"Hey Allen! Good morning!" The boy said and released the prince from his grip.

"Good morning Tim", Allen greeted and sat down on his bed, "what brings you here?" The young merman sat down next to Allen, looking very excited.

"I found a new sunken ship by the reefs, wanna go check it out?" Tim said and his golden tail fin didn't stop moving. Allen looked at the boy; Timcanpy was his friend since many years back, Timcanpy, or Tim for short, had blonde hair and a golden fin, he always came up with fun stuff to do, though some of them got them into trouble. Allen smiled and nodded as answer.

"Yeah, why not?" Allen said and picked up his dark green bag that lied on the floor next to the bed. Tim's smile widened and he swam out through the window, Allen right behind him.

…

It had taken the pair quite some time to sneak out from the underwater city. The king had put up a tight security and Allen wasn't supposed to leave without a few guards. But a few hours later they were exploring the many sunken ships by the reef.

That area was a death trap to sailors up on the surface; the waves could get very high and cover up the dangerous cliffs coming up from beneath. A lot of humans had lost their lives when coming to close, leaving behind trinkets and other things which amazed Allen.

They were there for a long time – there were a lot of ships there to explore – so Allen and Tim forgot time and the party that evening.

It was beginning to get darker when the two decided to swim back home. But then suddenly a large shadow came over them and, afraid that it was a shark, Allen quickly turned around, but there wasn't anything behind him so he looked up instead. Above him was a large ship and both Tim and him just gaped at the sight.

"Uhm… I think we forgot to explore a ship Allen", Tim said and pointed towards the ship on the surface.

"Yeah…" Allen replied and slowly nodded.

"Shall we go check it out then?" Tim suggested and Allen gave him a mischievous smile before speeding off to the surface. Tim followed suit.

The humans on the ship were drinking, singing and a few were dancing – they seemed to have a good time. Allen and Tim had managed to jump up so they were sitting on a small ledge by the railing; they looked at the dancing humans through an opening which function was to have water flow back to the sea. Allen moved his head in synch with the music coming from a violinist.

"Come on Yuu! Dance! It _is_ your birthday!" Allen heard someone say and Allen bent forward a little so he could see who it was.

"I'm not going to fucking dance idiot; this fucking party wasn't my idea to begin with", a tall man with long, dark hair up in a ponytail said angrily, next to him stood a equally tall red-haired man with his left arm thrown over the angry man's shoulders.

"Aw Yuu, you need to loosen up a bi…" the dark-haired man's fist connected with the other's stomach and the red-haired man blanched and took a few steps back as he tried to catch his breath. After a few moments he said: "Geez Yuu, don't need to hit so freakin' hard!" The other man tch-ed and went to the railing – the one which Allen and Tim hid behind, the two mermen kept their mouths tightly shut and tried to not breath too loudly, but the man called Yuu leaned with his back on the railing so Allen deemed it safe to continue peeking through the water-hole. The only negative thing was that the man's legs were in the way. Allen resisted the temptation to push him away.

"Kanda, father wants to speak with you", a tall, even taller than Kanda, bald man called from an open doorway. Kanda hmpf-ed and left the railing. Allen looked after him before turning his attention to the red-head who was dancing along with a girl. Then he felt someone tapping on his shoulder, he turned his head to the side and Tim looked at him with a serious face.

"What is it?" Allen asked.

"The reef!" Tim said and pointed towards the dangerous cliffs, Allen's eyes widened in realization and he quickly glanced at the happy humans on the deck, they didn't seem to have noticed.

"We need to go, Allen!" Tim urged and tried to pull Allen by his arm back to the sea. Allen resisted but then the ship hit a cliff and the force from the hit sent both Tim and Allen flying.

The people on the ship stopped celebrating at once and tried to find out what had happened. Kanda ran out from the cabin and went to the railing.

"Everyone to the boats! We've hit a cliff!" He bellowed and everyone rushed to the boats and began lowering them to the water, then they quickly boarded them.

"You Majesty!" Someone called and an old man with frizzy grey hair and glasses hurried to the rope ladder, after him went the large bald man and then the red-head. Kanda was nowhere to be seen, and some of the sailors was about to search for him when Kanda ran out from the cabin holding a sheathed katana.

"Your Highness! Climb down the ladder!" A sailor yelled.

"Go first!" Kanda ordered and the sailors hesitated for a moment but another cringe from the ship had them hurriedly climb down the ladder. Kanda was just a few meters from the railing where the ladder was when the ship's mast broke which had the horizontal part hit Kanda in the front and sent him over the ship's railing on the other side.

Allen saw how the dark-haired man fell down on the surface hard and then began to sink. Allen quickly swam to him and brought him back up to the surface. The man was unconscious and his hair was released from the ponytail. Tim swam up to the two; he glanced at the human before looking at the destroyed ship which was burning in some parts.

"Allen, we should head back home…" Tim said and turned to Allen again; the silver-tailed merman frowned and glanced down at the man he was holding.

"I need to get this man to safety first", he said, Tim got a thoughtful expression and then it seemed he got an idea.

"There's a beach not far from here, you can take him there", Tim said and pointed to somewhere behind Allen, he nodded and then said:

"Tim, do you think you could lead the other humans there? So they could find this one, I mean", Tim nodded and smiled, Allen smiled as well and then he tried to swim to the beach beyond the cliffs while holding the unconscious man's head above the water.

The waves made it difficult to reach the shores but Allen didn't give up. The clouds were dark and it started raining, the wind picked up speed and the waves became higher and fiercer. Allen's grip on the man tightened as he tried to find the beach, he saw it not too far from where he was and he kicked with his fin to get closer. A high wave suddenly came over the two and Allen dropped the man as he was hurled to a large rock, he felt pain in his back when the sharp rock side cut through his skin.

Allen gasped in pain. He pushed away from the rock with his hands and fin, he dove under the water – trying to find the man he'd lost – but he couldn't find him. He felt panic welling up inside him when he swam among the rocks and cliffs. Then he caught something dark in the corner of his eyes. Allen swam there and the pressure inside him lessened a bit when he took hold of the man by his arms. He swam up to the surface and he found himself closer to the beach.

In the water, by the shore, large and small rocks made it hard for Allen to drag the man to the beach with the white sand. But he managed with the help of the waves and he pushed the man as far onto land as he could. Allen collapsed on the sand and took deep breaths; he glanced at the man and sighed with relief when the man was breathing. But then the man coughed and water flushed out from his mouth, Allen pulled the man's left arm to make him lie on his right side, he coughed out lots of water but then the coughing stopped and Allen let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding.

He used his right hand to remove the long, black hair from the man's face but just then the man's eyes flickered and Allen frightfully pushed himself towards the water.

Kanda felt like shit, his abdomen hurt like hell and was that stars in front of his eyes? He tried sitting up but he felt a wave of dizziness and he lied down again for a short moment. But then he heard a splashing sound coming from the water and Kanda pushed himself up to find out what the source of that sound was – though it most probably was an over excited dolphin or so he thought.

He saw the upper body of a strange, white-haired boy trying to get out into the open water, trying to avoid the large rocks when the waves hit him. Kanda furrowed his eyebrows and called for the boy to come back, but that didn't seem to have the wanted effect – quite the opposite. Kanda growled and stood up, he supported himself on a large rock that was to his left when he felt a wave of dizziness again. He walked slowly to the water, trying to stabilize himself; he used the many rocks around the beach to support himself against the waves. The boy seemed to have some problems too; he often looked over his shoulder and got a panicked expression when he saw Kanda closing in, he didn't try to dive he just kept on wading/swimming.

"Damn it. You! Stop! That's fucking dangerous! Do you have a death wish?" Kanda yelled angrily, he was not far from the boy, if he jumped then he might make it – but the waves weren't making it any easier. Kanda became frustrated, was this brat deaf or something?

Allen tried his hardest to get away from the human that was now getting uncomfortable close to him. He couldn't make a dive since that would risk the human to see what he really was and, according to his father, that was _not_ okay. He wasn't even supposed to be up on the surface, much less be in close proximity to a _human_! "_If father found out about this…"_ Allen thought and once again panic filled his mind. He was about to round a large rock, that would give him that precious extra second to dive without the human (was it Kanda or Yuu? Allen didn't know anymore) seeing his tail, if not for a hand roughly taking hold of his left arm and pulled him back. Allen's eyes widened and he tried to get away.

"Stop, damn bean sprout! I'm not going to hurt you!" When Allen didn't calm down Kanda took hold of his other arm and began dragging him back to land. Allen continued to struggle but it was hard when the man held both of his arms in an iron grip and he tried to not show the human his tail.

"What the hell's your problem?" Kanda asked angrily, Allen didn't answer. Then a wave came and knocked them both towards a rock with a rough surface. Kanda dropped the boy's left arm but still held onto to the right, he just scraped his shoulder at the rock, but Allen wasn't that lucky. He gasped in pain as his back hit the rock hard, his tail coming up to the surface.

Kanda's eyes widened. Was that a fish tail? He was so shocked that he let go of Allen's other arm. He'd always thought mermaids (mer_men_) were just myth, but here one was… right in front of him. Looking at him with frightened eyes and then made a painful expression when the salt water hit the wound on his back. Kanda snapped out of his stupor and grabbed Allen's arms again.

"Let me go!" Allen yelled and tried to kick him with his tail, but Kanda would have none of it. He forced Allen back to land. He dragged him up enough so that Allen couldn't just jump back in. Allen realized that he was a "fish on land" now, so all he did was trying to make himself smaller – at least hide his tail as much he could. His back still stung from the salt water and now from the sand that was covering it.

Kanda sat down next to his tail, he didn't touch it nor did he look at it, he's eyes were focused on Allen's own, making the merman uncomfortable. Allen hugged himself, trying to make himself smaller by pulling up his fin towards him, but the sand obstructed the movement and the wound on his back made him grimace. Kanda frowned as he looked at the attempt, then he snorted and stood up. Allen observed him intently, trying to discern what the man was going to do next. Kanda went to the water and took off what was left of his shirt; he wetted it before making his way back.

He sat down, cross-legged, behind Allen who stiffened - didn't make a move. He felt something wet and soft gently tap his back, cleaning it from sand and thread from his torn sweater. Allen was shocked beyond words. The human he saved didn't seem to care that he wasn't human, that he was something belonging to mythology; instead he just sat there – tending to Allen's small injury.

"I need to take this off…" Kanda said and began to tear the sweater off, Allen was silent, didn't dare to speak incase that would anger the man – though that seemed like an unnecessary fear when said man was tending to him. Kanda had ripped off the right side of the sweater, revealing creamy white skin under it; he went to do the same on the left if not Allen had pulled away.

"Leave it", was Allen's short demand and Kanda frowned but he lowered his hands and continued tending to the injury after putting down the remainder of the sweater next to him. The sweater had felt silky and soft to his touch, he didn't recognize the fabric and he wondered why a merman was wearing one in the first place, and why he wanted to keep the clothing on the left arm. But Kanda didn't know how mermen thought, heck he didn't even know they _existed_ until just now!

"You saved me from drowning, right?" Kanda asked suddenly.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"'Cause I felt like it."

"Even risk being seen?" Kanda smirked but Allen didn't see it.

"I just… don't like doing nothing when someone's in danger. The cliffs would of instantly killed you if I hadn't gotten hold of you, you should be thankful!" Allen said and turned so he was facing Kanda. The human could get a full look on the merman's face: light skin and the face was round and youthful, luscious red lips and soft silver eyes, the left side of the face was marred by a red scar starting from a pentagram on the forehead down to the lower cheek. Kanda now knew why sailors often said they wanted to meet a mermaid, this merman was beautiful. He traced the scar with his thumb, wondering what could have caused it. Then suddenly Allen pulled away from the touch and he glared at the human.

"What are you doing?" He asked heatedly, not trusting the man at all. Kanda crossed his arms and glared back at Allen, but with much more force which had the silver merman cower in fear.

"Thanks", _that_ was _not_ the word Allen expected to hear after the glare the human had given him. Kanda continued: "for saving me." Allen relaxed and said:

"You're welcome." Just then they heard a high pitched sound coming from the ocean, it sounded a bit like a dolphin but not quite, Kanda made to grab for his katana but when he didn't, he realized he must have dropped it in the ocean when he was sent overboard. Allen tensed up when hearing the sound and he pushed himself towards the water.

"What was that?" Kanda was demanding an answer instead of asking. Allen, who had just reached the water, turned his head and said:

"My friend, he says your friends' are coming", Kanda stood up trying to see beyond the many cliffs, a splash had him focus on Allen, who were using the waves to get out to open water.

"Wait!" Kanda called and ran after him. Allen stopped and looked back; Kanda was standing not far behind him, up to his knees deep in the water.

"Can we meet again?" Kanda mentally hit himself for sounding so pathetic, but he wanted to see the merman again – so dignity, go screw yourself. Allen was taken aback by surprise before he smiled softly, which Kanda thought was the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen.

"Midnight, during the first night of the full moon", Allen answered before he dove under the next wave. Kanda closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them he saw a boat with his father, brothers and his red-haired friend on, waving at him.

Allen on the other hand was swimming the fastest he could back to the castle far away from the coast, Tim had no trouble keeping up - then again Tim had always been the faster of the two.

As they swam, Allen tried to come up with plausible explanations to 1: why his sweater is in pieces, 2: why he has an injury on his back, 3: why he flushes like an infatuated girl. Tim had been wise to not ask him about his time with the human, and even if he had Allen had no intention of answering any of them.

A guard caught them trying to sneak in and brought them to the king. Allen said the two of them had been out and having fun and kind of forgot time, and then got hunted by a shark and that they escaped to a narrow cave opening where he ripped his sweater and scraped the skin on his back. Allen thought that was a really good explanation and Tim just went along with it – Allen had always been the better liar. King Adam listened to the explanation with an amused expression, Allen didn't know if it was because he found it funny being hunted by a shark or if it was because Allen had somehow gotten out of having to go to the party he was currently holding or if he knew that Allen was lying.

The king then sent the young prince to his sleeping quarters and a guard to escort Tim home. When Allen was lying on his bed he sighed in relief and not before long he drifted off to sleep.

…

"Tim, it's just until dawn, nothing to worry about! No one ever comes in during the night!" Allen tried to convince Tim to "sleep" in his bed while Allen snuck out of the castle and swim to the beach to meet the human as promised. Tim was quite reluctant to do this – because there was hell to pay if they were caught. But as Allen pointed out, it was _Allen_ and not Tim that would get the most scolding.

Tim pouted but got into bed anyway, Allen smiled and thanked him before putting on another sweater that he picked up from a shell-chair.

"I'll be back before dawn", Allen said before he carefully swam out through the window, leaving Tim huddled up under the green seaweed blanket on the bed. He lied down and had the blanket cover his head and fin – in case someone came in.

Allen did his best in making small swimming motions – so that the many guards wouldn't feel the water fluctuation that was made. He couldn't just swim up towards the surface, the guards would catch him immediately, so he had to swim low, but he knew the place like the back of his hand so he had no problems coming out to the city and later swim away from that as well.

He hurriedly swam towards the reef and was very happy that the ocean was calm tonight – he wouldn't have to worry about being thrown around the many cliffs and rocks. He was swimming over the place where the human's (he didn't know what to call him yet) ship had sunken. He glanced down at the broken ship, it had been split in two and the mast had been burnt to crisps, fish had gathered there to eat of the food and soon sharks would come for the fish. Allen didn't want to stay long near the ship. But then he saw something stuck among some corals, it was black, long and flat, Allen picked it up without too much resistance from the corals and looked it over.

He then noticed that he could take of the black thing and when he did he was greeted with something shiny, silver - and sharp he then realized when he cut his finger on the sharp end. He put it back in the black thing and brought it with him to the shore – he thought it would make a nice gift to the human, to bring something from the ship they'd had to leave in a hurry.

Allen's head breached the surface and he looked up at the large, white full moon before navigating through the maze of rocks to the beach. When he was about to pull himself up on land someone went to stand next to him. The merman glanced up and saw the human standing there, without a word the human lifted him up bridal style and walked to the beach, Allen held the gift with both of his hands on his chest. Kanda put Allen down on the sand, close enough to the water so Allen's tail fin would occasionally be touching the water. Kanda sat down next to him, looking out to the vast calm ocean, Allen glanced at him. The moon made him able to look at his features: a sharp jaw, soft looking lips, dark eyes, he had an indifferent expression and his hair was up in a high ponytail, with long bangs on either side of the face and some hair covering his forehead, it looked so silky and smooth Allen wanted to touch it. But he didn't since he didn't know how the human would take it.

"How's it like living under the water surface?" Was Kanda's sudden question, he still calmly observed the ocean, though he glanced at Allen once or twice.

"How's it like living _above_ the water surface?" Allen countered, Kanda smirked and leaned back, watching the sky, his hands buried in the sand. Allen went into the same position except he's gaze was steady on the human next to him. They were quiet for awhile, just enjoying each other's company. Then:

"What are you wearing?" Kanda asked, he sat up straight tugging at the sweater on Allen.

"That's… It's because…" Allen didn't know what to say, would the human turn away in disgust and call him a monster if he saw the arm? Should he lie or should he tell the truth? Kanda's cobalt eyes bored into his silvery ones and it felt as if he was reading Allen's mind.

"Something you don't want me to see, little bean sprout?" Kanda said and smirked. "Perhaps something on the left arm…?" Allen's eyes widened in surprise and he looked down – trying to hide the blush that was forming on his cheek. Kanda tugged at the fabric on Allen's hand, trying to coax him into taking it off. Allen pulled his hand away from the intrusive hand, glaring at Kanda, though the man just thought it looked like a pout, a cute one to boot.

"It's not something I show to _strangers_, human!" Allen said trying to sound angry but failed miserably.

"Strangers? I think not. Acquaintances I can accept, but strangers? No fucking way in hell", Kanda said his tone a bit harsher than he meant to. Allen's gaze didn't waver. They stared at each other in silence, neither of them wanting to back down from the silent challenge. Then Allen broke the silence by saying:

"I think we can become more than just acquaintances if I knew your name, human."

"Then I want to know your name too, Bean-Sprout-fish," Allen reached out his left hand in greeting, Kanda took it while rolling his eyes and they shook hands.

"My name's Allen", the merman said and smiled.

"Yuu Kanda", Kanda said and they let go of each other's hands. Allen frowned, thinking back on the evening on the ship.

"Yuu Kanda… I heard people call you either "Yuu" or "Kanda", what should I call you?" Allen asked and tilted his head a little.

"Heard? When was that?" Kanda asked confused.

"On the ship before it crashed into the reef", Allen said, when he saw Kanda's confused look he added: "I sat on a ledge by the railing; you leaned on it until your father wanted to see you." Kanda's eyes widened when he realized the close proximity he had been to Allen before they met. Then he began thinking of other times when something could have been close to him without him noticing – which was very hard since he was very good at noticing things others overlooked or missed. But then he noticed Allen's expectant look and he realized he hadn't answered his question.

"Kanda, call me Kanda", he said quickly, Allen nodded slowly. Kanda could see the merman's mouth forming the name – as if testing it out.

"You got what you wanted, show me that arm", Kanda demanded, it was a bit rude but Kanda was getting impatient. Allen hmfp-ed and slowly (to slow for Kanda but he got what he wanted) took off the sweater. Then it was only the left arm that was clothed, Allen stopped and bit his lower lip – hesitant to take it off. A deep growl from Kanda made him flinch and he pulled it off.

Kanda bent over Allen so he could see the arm up close, Allen was immobile – didn't want to see the look of disgust that was sure to be on Kanda's face. Then he felt a hand take his left wrist and surprised he looked up to see Kanda inspecting the disfigured arm, his didn't show anything on his face – no emotions at all. Allen didn't pull away; he just let the human do as he wanted.

"_This_ was why you wore that garment?" Kanda asked and raised an eyebrow, Allen pouted.

"I don't like showing it to people. It disgust the…" But Kanda interrupted him.

"I'm not", Allen blinked and Kanda let go of the arm. "That arm doesn't disgust me."

"I-it doesn't?" Allen tried to blink away the tears forming in his eyes – how pathetic was that? Kanda nodded and Allen felt as if a rock had been lifted off of him, he smiled widely – making Kanda want to say:

"You must be the ugliest merman I have ever seen", Allen's smile disappeared in an instant but then he saw the mischievous glint in Kanda's eyes and he retorted:

"Sorry for not living up to your expectations!" He punched Kanda's shoulder lightly and then he made to grab the black thing that had been lying, forgotten, on the sand on his left. He gave the gift to Kanda who was looking at it confused.

"I found this around your ship, thought you might want it. But be careful, it's sharp", Allen said and smiled once again. Kanda glanced at Allen before taking out the katana out of its sheath. Yes. That was his trusted weapon; Mugen – the katana he had dropped when he fell into the sea.

"Thank you, Allen", he said – and really meaning it.

"You're welcome, Kanda," Allen said and lied down with his hands under his head. He looked up at the stars and the moon – marveled at how beautiful the night sky was. Kanda was checking the katana for any irregularities, but he didn't find anything – it seemed to be as perfect as it always has been – so he sheathed it and put it down on the sand on his right.

"Do you have anything abnormal on your body, Kanda?" Allen then asked, the man glanced at the merman before taking of his white shirt. The merman sat up and saw that on the chest, above the heart, was a black tattoo. It looked to be a symbol but Allen didn't recognize it; black streaks reached up to the shoulder and neck and down to the well-toned abdomen. Hesitantly Allen reached his left arm out and tentatively touched the black skin. He followed the different streaks – to the shoulders, to the neck before his hand went down the man's abdomen.

"Did it hurt?" Allen asked looking at the tattoo more closely.

"Only a sting", Kanda answered calmly. He liked the feeling of the rough hand touching his body – exploring it. He pulled up closer to Allen – close enough so their shoulders were touching, Allen raised his head to look at Kanda in surprise, he took away his hand and Kanda frowned for a second. He then brought his own left hand closer to the silvery fin, but stopped and glanced at Allen for confirmation, the merman blinked and then, almost not visible, he nodded. Kanda touched the fin, it didn't exactly feel like a fish' body or fin. He'd expected it to feel slimy or something like that but it was dry – but they _had_ been on land for a while now – and a bit rough. And Kanda got a question he just had to ask:

"How do you mer's reproduce?" Allen was caught off guard and began stuttering something incoherent before he calmed down, took a few deep breaths and asked:

"Why do you want to now?" Kanda kept touching his fin, he shrugged and said:

"Curious. Is it like dolphins or fish?"

"I guess it's a mixture", Allen began; Kanda glanced at him – silently urging him to continue. "Uhm… when two persons wants a child they uhm… kinda… they go into this cocoon or something… uhm… and there they get an egg… or more if they want, though then they need to stay there longer. When they have the egg they stay there for some time, a week or two. Then they come out with the egg and it takes some weeks more for the egg to… uhm… hatch", Kanda had gotten a more funny looking expression for every word Allen said. The merman noticed that and blushed fiercely – though he thought Kanda looked at him like that because he thought Allen had done that before, which was definitely not the case! He was only sixteen years old!

"That's just what my sister said and she got twins, I've never…!" He was interrupted by Kanda who had brought his face closer to Allen's. The blush deepened because of the close proximity but he didn't back away.

He noticed Kanda's hand moving up – from his fin to his abdomen and then to his chest and neck. Kanda's lips were close to his own and were getting even closer, the hand was caressing his chin, and they both brought their lips closer to the other but then…

Something suddenly hit the sand between Kanda's legs. The man stopped what he was doing immediately and looked at the thing uncomfortable close to his manhood – it was an arrow, or more like a bolt. He then heard Allen gasp and he glanced at him and then out to the sea. Another merman was in the water, aiming a weapon at Kanda.

"Tyki…" Tyki already had another bolt ready to be fired at the human daring to be so close to his brother. Kanda turned his head towards Allen but he kept the other merman in the corner of his right eye.

"Who is that?" He demanded, his right hand was on Mugen – ready to unsheathe it if necessary. Allen kept glancing back and forth at the two.

"Allen! Get into the water! _Now_!" Tyki ordered, Kanda stood up, but didn't unsheathe Mugen (yet), he was about to take a step towards the other merman but Tyki raised his crossbow so it was aimed at Kanda's chest – more precisely: his heart. Kanda stopped and said angrily:

"Who are you to order him around?"

"Kanda…" Allen said, so softly that Kanda almost didn't hear it; he glanced at the white-haired mermen before taking another step towards the intruding merman.

"Stay where you are human, if you don't want your heart pierced!" Tyki bellowed, Kanda stopped – but it wasn't because of the threat- he felt someone take hold of his left hand and he looked back and saw Allen with eyes begging him to not do anything stupid.

"I need to go now, Kanda", Allen said and smiled when he continued: "It was fun getting to know you better!" He then let go of the hand and pushed himself down to the water. When the water covered his waist area Tyki took hold of his hand and dragged Allen so he was next to him. Kanda clenched his teeth in anger and was about to go out into the water when noise was heard from the forest.

Distant voices calling for Kanda, said man swore in his mind as he looked over his shoulder. A splash had him focus on the matter at hand and he swore again, loudly this time, when he saw Tyki swimming out to the open sea, pulling Allen by the hand. Another voice called, which Kanda recognized as his so-called-friend Lavi's, and he glanced back before he ran out after the mermen. The water was calm so he didn't have any problems getting out. He was waist deep in the water – Allen wasn't that far from him but it suddenly got very deep beyond that point and Kanda decided to stop.

"Bean Sprout!" He called which had Allen stop and turn around – much to Tyki's displeasure.

"What is it Kanda?" Allen asked him, Tyki pulled him by the arm this time but Allen pulled away from his grip. The calls from the forest became louder and louder as Kanda struggled to find the right words.

"Allen, we need to go _now_!" Tyki insisted but Allen scoffed it off. He turned to Kanda again, his silver eyes were questioning and his expression expectant. Kanda closed his eyes for a second before he said:

"Will we meet again?" Allen smiled, he then put his hands over his right ear for a second and then he swam towards him, when he was in front of Kanda he took the human's hand and put something small on the palm. He had his left hand to have Kanda squeeze whatever that thing was, and then Allen whispered to him:

"I'll come back for this… I promise", with that he swam back to Tyki, both of them dived just when the search party came out to the beach. A red-haired man ran towards the water as soon he caught sight of Kanda – who was walking back to land. His right hand still clutched.

"Yuu! Man, we searched _everywhere_ for you! What the hell were you doing here?" The man asked slightly out of breath. Kanda ignored him and went to fetch his shirt before it got even sandier. Lavi stood at the same spot, eyebrow raised at his friend (though the feeling wasn't exactly mutual).

"Yuu?" He asked.

"_What_?" Kanda snapped making a poor attendant, who had brought Kanda's horse, jump in fright. Lavi walked up to him, worry written on his face.

"Did something happen?" He asked seriously. Kanda stared at him and Lavi stared back – Kanda was the one to break the silent contest and mumbled:

"Nothing", Lavi frowned at the answer but didn't say anything else. Then he saw something glittery on the sand not far from where Kanda's shirt had been. Lavi's frown changed to a look of curiosity as he picked the thing up. It looked like a sweater of some kind, but he couldn't recognize the material, his one good eye watched as the texture changed color when he brought it to different lights.

"Yuu, what's this?" He then asked. Kanda, who had just been about to mount his black horse, scowled and snatched the garment away from Lavi's hands, he kept the bundle close to him as he sat up on the horse.

"None of your business, Rabbit", then he gestured for the attendant to lead the horse, and the party made to leave. As they left Kanda unclenched his right hand and looked at the thing Allen had given him, it was an earring – a golden earring. Kanda remembered the words Allen had said to him and his hand closed around the jewelry as he promised to come here every night from now on – he would wait as long as he had to if it meant he would be able to see that Bean-Sprout-fish again.

Lavi stayed behind for a moment, he looked at his hands as he imagined the garment almost flowing between his fingers. He then gazed out to the sea, still doing the hand motion, before he followed the rest back.

...

Allen was not having the same luck with his "rescuer" as Tyki apparently saw himself as. As soon as the two had gone enough deep into the ocean Tyki stopped and his grip on Allen's (naked) arm hardened considerably. The ten year older man closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as if to calm himself – which Allen suspected was very hard if judged by Tyki's facial expression.

"Allen…" Tyki's golden eyes snapped open and his stare bore into Allen, who immediately started to feel fear and a bit of guilt as well. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" He then yelled angrily, Allen couldn't meet his eyes anymore and he looked down at his free hand. "You were with a fucking _human_! Are you stupid? Humans are dange..."

"He's not dangerous!" Allen protested.

"They are! Humans are cruel and whenever they see something they don't understand they kill it!" Tyki's face reddened – he was so angry, and Allen knew this was just Tyki's way of telling Allen that he had been worried about him, but he couldn't let him judge someone he hadn't even met – properly anyway.

"Kanda wouldn't do that!" He snapped back and tried to get out of Tyki's bruising grip. Hearing Allen call the human by name had Tyki even angrier; he yanked Allen by the arm so that Allen's face was inches from his.

"Listen to me, Allen! Humans are _dangerous_, that's why we're not supposed to be up at the surface! That _human_", Tyki spit that last word out like it was dirt, "is not to be trusted!" Allen breathed faster as he tried to keep his anger inside.

"You're my youngest brother, Allen, I don't want anything to happen to you", he then said in a calmer, soother, voice. His grip lightened and Allen pulled away his arm.

"It's _you_ who should listen! Kanda isn't like that, he wouldn't do something like kill…"

"Stop defending him damn it! He doesn't deserve any of that!"

"He doesn't deserve any of your accusations, Tyki!" Allen snapped back.

"I wonder what father will have to say about this", Tyki said with a stern voice. Allen was taken aback from that sentence, nervousness and fear came over him as his eyes turned pleading.

"Please…" he begged, "Tyki, please don't tell father…" Tyki shook his head, his face as stern as his voice when he replied:

"I'm sorry, Allen. But this is for your own good", he then proceeded to grab Allen's arm once again and lead him back to the underwater city and to Allen's doom.

The king had been just as angry as Tyki – if not more – and after giving Allen a piece of his mind he sent the young merman to a room that didn't have any windows - so that Allen couldn't just sneak out like before. Tyki and a guard had brought him to the sterile room, Tyki had once again said that aggravating "it's for your own good" as he closed the door. The guard stayed right outside, ready to escort Allen to wherever he needed to go.

Anger would be an understatement for what he felt right now. He couldn't believe this injustice! And his father's dismissive way of handling it, it had been as if he wanted Allen out of his sight as soon as possible – and Allen felt incredibly hurt by that.

Though, that was not the first time his father had done that. When he was angry with Allen he does something Allen calls "the verdict" – which means that the king just tells Allen of his punishment before sending him away, oftentimes quite brusquely – sending Allen into "tears" sometimes. Tyki usually talked to him about it, but not this time. He must still be angry at him.

That sent Allen on a small guilt trip – he and Tyki were very close, closer than with any other of the many siblings. The curly-haired man had always been there for him, ever since he was little. Tyki trusted him and now Allen had broken that.

Then he suddenly thought of Tim. How could he forget about him? Allen had no way of contacting him and no one had said anything about him. Allen could only hope Tim hadn't been scolded to harshly because of him.

A few days passed and Allen felt more and more isolated for each day. Road was with him when she didn't have class, Wisely played some chess with him, though that was because he wanted to kill some time before he went out on a date with this mermaid he met during the party about a week ago. Jasdevi were trying to make him talk about his meeting with the human and the others didn't give a shit – or so it seemed.

Allen was leaving his room for lunch when he passed the throne room; he saw Adam and Lulubell talking to each other. Allen heard his name mentioned so he swam closer so he could hear what they were saying. The guard politely stayed out of earshot after Allen gestured for him to. Then Allen listened intently at the conversation.

"…getting harder to control it", the king said, the black haired woman looked at him indifferently. Then Adam put his face in his hands. "I hoped I wouldn't have to do this but… since you all love him like your own brother…" Lulubell got a slightly curious expression.

"What do you mean father?" She asked her voice low and calm, Allen had to strain his ear to hear it.

"And this… swimming up to the surface and meeting a _human_! He's getting more and more alike his father Mana", Allen's eyes widened, what did he just hear? Wasn't Adam his father? Who's this Mana? Suddenly he felt much betrayed, had his whole life been a lie?

"You think he'll remember soon?" The woman asked her voice emotionless.

"No doubt, it's been ten years now, the spell must have wearied off by now…"

"What will you do?"

"What I've should have done when I disposed of my brothers – kill him", Allen started shaking; one hand was brought up before his mouth – as if trying to quench his staggered breathing. This couldn't be true. His whole life, his memories… he had to get out of here. He couldn't stay here, he couldn't let himself stay ignorant and let himself get killed – he had a promise to keep to Kanda! He looked over his shoulder and saw that the guard conveniently was talking to someone and had his back to him.

Allen took his chance.

He swam as fast as he could, he didn't care about being noticed or not – right now he just wanted to get as much distance as possible to the man he once thought was his father, from the family he thought he loved.

He safely got out of the palace, pass the guards and then out of the city. He swam as fast as he could, never stopping to rest. He didn't want to think about what he'd just found out; it was too painful.

Suddenly he came out to a field of… flowers? It looked like the flowers he'd seen in some of the pictures he'd found on the sunken ships. There were red flowers, blue, yellow and white. Allen was amazed; he'd never seen something like this under the water's surface before, how…? Then he saw a long, black-haired mermaid out on the field picking some flowers.

He approached the mermaid from behind; she hadn't noticed him as she was still picking up flowers. When he was an arm's length away from her he brought out his hands to touch her shoulder. The mermaid cringed at the unexpected touch and quickly turned around; Allen saw a pretty face before something exploded right in front of his face.

And everything went black.

* * *

_Ooo cliffhanger :P_

_Sorry about that, I couldn't resist it._

_Next part will come out... sometime. And I think I'll write a lemon in it (that's what I planned at least)._

_Sorry for so many characters to go OOC in this, it just happened._

_Please review and tell me what you think of this!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry, for taking so long to update this story, have had so much to do..._

_This is part two of For Eternity... this was supposed to be the **last** chapter but as the name implies this story goes on forever and ever and ever and **ever! **I thought about not to publish this chapter until I've finished it so it truly will be a two-shot but then I thought that would be mean to all of you waiting for this to update so I give this chapter to you and then I'll write the last part sometime (hopefully) during the summer break._

_So, this story is a three-shot now... or is that classified as a multi-chapter story?_

_Enjoy this belated chapter!_

* * *

**Part 2.**

Allen had no idea what hit him. One moment he was about to greet that dark-haired mermaid and in the next he was lying on a round bed in a room – which was suspiciously pink and white – somewhere.

He sat up and took a look around the room. Was this perhaps the mermaid's room? There _were_ a lot of girly things in the room, but Allen knew better than to make hasty assumptions. When he was younger he'd always thought big, macho Skinn was a very frightening merman, someone who could scare the living bubbles out of you, but one day he found the same big, macho Skinn sitting in his room eating candy while playing with a catfish – Allen never mentioned it to anyone, not even Tyki.

He pushed himself of the bed and swam to the round (pink extravaganza) door and carefully pushed it open. He was greeted with something akin to a drill up his face – but the merman holding it was what scared Allen the most. The man looked like a maniac with his glasses and white beret and crazy grin. _Why did I have to swim into a psycho?_ Allen thought, and just then a mermaid about his age put her hand on the crazy man's shoulder and gave him a stern look. The crazy man gave Allen the evil eye before swimming away somewhere with the drill.

The mermaid sighed, and then she turned to Allen who just floated there; completely stunned.

"I'm sorry about that, Allen", the mermaid said, "Brother was just about to renovate his laboratory…" Allen shook his head to clear his thought.

"H-how did you know my name?" He then asked suspiciously, the mermaid looked at him, her eyes so sad and… disappointed?

"You don't remember, do you?" She asked making Allen frown in confusion.

"What do you mean? What am I supposed to remember?" Who was this mermaid?

"Come with me", she said and motioned for him to follow. She swam out through another round door, Allen right behind her, and then they were out on that flowery field. The mermaid noticed his fascination with the flowers and said:

"My brother, Komui, is an alchemist; he used one of his potions to enable earth-flowers to grow on the bottom of the sea", she picked up a yellow flower and then she smiled fondly. Allen stayed some ways away from her this time – something might explode again. The mermaid swam to him, put the flower in his hand and said friendly:

"I'm Lenalee", Allen blinked, and then he remembered his manners and responded politely:

"My name's Allen… nice to meet you…?" He wasn't really sure if it was a nice meeting, but she did have something explode right in his face…

Lenalee laughed, it was a beautiful laughter and Allen couldn't help but smile. When she stopped she was right in front of Allen, her face inches away from his.

"I've missed you. So much."

"…who are you, exactly?" Allen was so confused right now.

"What do you know? About your family I mean", she asked instead, Allen frowned again.

"What do you mean? Why are you asking this?"

"Who's your father?"

"My father? It's King Adam of cou…" no, it wasn't 'of course' anymore. Adam had himself said that he wasn't Allen's father, this Mana was… but who was Mana? Why doesn't he know? What's wrong with him? Allen brought up his hands to his head; it felt as if it was about to split in two, it hurt so much. What's wrong with him?

"You're starting to remember, Brother was right", Lenalee said. Allen then felt her arms encircle his neck as he was brought in for a hug.

"I will tell you everything I know, okay?" Allen opened his eyes and his breathing calmed down. She pushed him down gently so he was sitting among the flowers and she sat next to him.

"King Adam isn't your father", she began, and Allen nodded absentmindedly – he'd figured that much. "He's actually... your uncle", Allen whipped his head to face her.

"What?" Lenalee nodded.

"Adam, or the Millenium Earl as he is also called, was the oldest brother of three; his brothers were Mana and Neah..." Lenalee noticed that Allen recognized the first name. "Since Adam was the oldest he was of course the one to take the throne after their father but..."

"But...?" Allen repeated.

"I don't know the details but what I know is that for some reason Mana was chosen to be king instead – sending Adam into a rage. He left the kingdom and no one heard from him for years. But one day, about ten years ago he... came back." Lenalee looked at him sadly.

"He had brought his own troops and he seized the castle, he killed Mana and Neah – his own brothers! He forcefully took the throne and then he was about to kill you..."

Allen tried to think back, he didn't remember any of this! He must have been six years old when this happened so why...?

"Why don't I remember?" He asked, though he didn't know if he wanted to know more than he already did.

"Adam hesitated, I don't know why, maybe an act of kindness since you are his nephew? But I didn't know what happened to you until some years later. My brother and I had to flee since Adam was set to kill us too, because my brother was loyal to Mana and Neah. Anyway, one day when my brother was in the city to see how it had become he met you."

"He... did?" Lenalee nodded.

"You were outside with one of Adam's children, Komui said you looked straight at him but didn't recognize him and then Komui heard you call that merman 'brother' and Adam 'father'... Komui knew that Adam must have erased your memory of you real father and your life with him. You don't remember your life from before you were six, do you?" Allen slowly shook his head.

"Adam used a spell on you, to make you forget everything, but one cannot force memories to disappear altogether – one day you will regain them... and I think that day will come soon." Allen was observing a small red flower next to him; it was a beautiful flower, the red petals overlapping each other and the dark green stalk had some thorns. _Would Kanda like this flower?_ He wondered. He then turned to look at Lenalee again.

"If I'm Mana's son, does that mean I'm the Crown Prince?" Lenalee nodded.

"You're supposed to be the king, you have to take the throne back..."

"No", Allen said firmly, Lenalee was shocked.

"No? But, but why? Don't you want revenge now that you know?" Allen shook his head.

"I know but I don't _remember_. Besides, everything's okay now, right? Fa... Adam got what he wants; I just... need to be out of the way. If I could somehow..." Allen looked up towards the ocean's surface. Lenalee followed his eyes but she didn't understand what he meant.

"'Could' do what?" The white-haired merman smiled and then he said:

"Walk on land, be human..." Lenalee frowned.

"But, why would you want to be human?"

"I have a promise to keep... to someone dear to me", Allen smiled fondly when he thought of Kanda. They had only met twice but that long dark-haired human with the cobalt eyes, that smirk and his sudden way of saying things one wouldn't think he would say – that human, Kanda, had sneaked into Allen's heart when he wasn't looking, taking up residence there, not intending to leave anytime soon.

Allen didn't know when he'd developed feelings for the human; all he knows is that he wanted to see him again, to see that indifferent, beautiful face once more...

"I think..." Lenalee began then she went quiet, a frown marred her face, "come with me", she then said and quickly swam up and then towards the cave. Allen was confused at first but then he followed.

They arrived to a dark room; a large pot was standing in the middle of the room, and on the many shelves, by the cave walls, were both small and large phials with mysterious substances inside. It smelled as if someone had died in there but the only one they saw was Lenalee's brother Komui passed out on the floor, covered with books and seaweed-paper.

"Stupid brother", Lenalee muttered and then she proceeded to bonk him on the head with the nearest book.

Komui woke up in an instant.

"Wha-what? Lenaleeeee... that hurt... why would you hurt your big brother like that?" Komui whined but his sister wasn't listening. Allen floated by the entrance, a bit disturbed by the rather rough treatment Lenalee had given her brother. Komui stretched and yawned and when he opened his eyes he saw Allen.

"Allen! How're you feeling? Good I hope? Remember anything yet?" He asked and Allen just blinked.

"Uhm... I'm okay... I suppose..."

"Great! Now, was it something you wanted?" Komui asked his sister in a loving tone.

"Brother do you still have that potion? You know the one to make one of us into a human?" Lenalee asked and Komui thought for a moment.

"Hmm... well there should be... where did I put it?" Komui swam to the back of his room and started digging in some boxes, throwing stuff out making Allen fear for his safety when he saw phials blow up or drills that came uncomfortably close to him. "AHA!" Komui straightened up and showed the other two in the room two small phials with something liquid inside. Komui swam to the two and showed the phials to them more closely, the one in his left hand had a bluish content and the one in his right hand was greenish.

Allen looked closer at the phials, not really knowing what to say about it. Lenalee also looked closer and a few times she was about to say something but she changed her mind almost instantly every time.

"This one", Komui said and brought up the phial in his left hand, "will change any merman or mermaid to a human for three days. This one, however," and now he brought up the one with the greenish liquid, "can change any human to a merman or mermaid – perfect in case one would want to return to the ocean before the three days are up."

"So, if I drink all of that blue stuff then I'll be human for three whole days?

"Yes, if you, for instance, drink this at sunset, then you'll change back at the third sunset after that", Allen's face lit up as he smiled widely, he turned to Lenalee.

"Is it okay if I... take this?" Komui looked at him and his sister questionably. Lenalee turned to him, silently asking if it was indeed alright. Komui blinked and then he shrugged and gave the phials to Allen.

"Have fun with it."

...

It was dark above the surface, there was no moon out tonight so Allen had difficulty navigating between the scattered rocks in the water by the beach he'd met Kanda. He had been given a small, brown pouch to carry the phials in which now hung around his neck.

He pulled himself up on the beach so he could sit without having the large waves crash over him. He then pulled out the phial with the bluish content and was surprised to see that the liquid was glowing. He opened it and eyed it suspiciously. Was it really safe to drink this? What if he was turned into some kind of monster? He decided that it smelled weird but he was going to try anyway.

He took it all in one sweep. Then he dropped the phial as he coughed violently. It hurt so much! It felt as if he'd cough up his lunges and his skin and fin felt like they were burning up! The pain took over his being; suddenly he felt sand under his head and he lied there – writhing in pain. He felt his fin split in two and he gasped at the pain.

It was over as quickly as it had begun. Suddenly there was no more pain, his lunges didn't hurt anymore and he could feel the sand covering his...

Allen looked down towards where his fin should be – he saw human legs, human feet and human... everything! Allen laughed and tried moving the toes on his feet. He bent forward to touch his legs and was marveled at how soft they felt. He then tried to stand up. He brought his legs to his body, so he was almost standing on his knees, but he lost his balance and fell face forward to the sand. He stopped the fall with his hands and he then tried pushing himself with his arms and at the same time straightening his legs – but he fell down again.

Frustrated Allen rolled so he was on his back; he tried to remember how Kanda had stood up after sitting down. Kanda had used his hands and then he'd stood on one knee before using the other to push himself up. Allen tried that as well – he almost succeeded but he went too fast and so he fell down once again.

Now Allen was really angry with himself – he _will_ stand up! He looked around and saw a rock close to him; he went into the same position as before but now with his hands on the rock to help him keep his balance. This time he succeeded and he was able to stand up on shaky legs. He still had his hands on the rock as he tried to take a step. He took a small step and when he didn't fall down he laughed triumphantly. He let go of the rock and stood still for a moment to balance himself. Then he took another step, and then another and another. His walking was staggered and slow – but he _was_ walking!

Allen felt so proud over himself at that moment.

"Bean Sprout?" A voice Allen recognized right away came from behind him. He turned around quickly – too quickly since he fell down on his back side again.

"Kanda!" He exclaimed happily. Kanda was holding the reins to his black horse and he looked at the impossible – although comical – sight before him.

"You're... what the fuck is this?" Kanda asked and Allen smiled and stood up again – it went better this time.

"I'm walking, see!" Allen explained and took a step towards the tall man, but then he tripped and fell down again, but this time Kanda grabbed him before he'd completed the fall. Allen looked up at him and laughed nervously.

"Sorry, I'm not used to this yet." Kanda looked down at him and then down at the white legs and the feet, not really knowing what to think.

"Why... why do you have legs? What happened, Bean Sprout?" Kanda got a worried tone, what if Allen had gotten into so much trouble after he was picked up by that other merman that they punished him to live on land? What if...?

"I turned human! Look, I got legs!" Allen turned around in Kanda's hold and brought up a leg to give Kanda a better view at it. The slightly older man looked away so to not get any strange ideas and he answered:

"Yeah, I can see that. But why?" He fixed his gaze to Allen's smiling face; he did not look anywhere else.

"Because I promised you, right? I promised to come see you again", Allen said and rested his head on Kanda's shoulder. Kanda then noticed goose bumps on the merman's skin so he carefully helped Allen stand up and then he took off his brown coat, he put it on Allen's shoulders and then he led him to the horse. Allen looked at the animal fascinated and he chuckled when the horse snorted. He then felt Kanda take hold of his sides and lifted him up to the horse's back, and then Kanda went up behind him.

"Where are we going, Kanda?" Allen asked as Kanda put his arms on either side of Allen and took the reins.

"Home."

...

"Yuu! Where have you been? Not to the beach again, right?" Lavi asked exasperatedly, he'd come up to the horse Kanda was riding on from behind, he saw strange looks coming from a couple of guards but he didn't think much on it and waited for Kanda to dismount. But then he saw another form on the horse. Curious he walked so he was standing in front of the horse and that's when he saw a nervous, white-haired boy sitting on the saddle – with Kanda's coat around him.

"Uhm... Yuu?" Lavi began and turned to look at his friend. "Who's this?" Kanda ignored him to bring the boy down from the horse, Lavi then noticed that the boy didn't have anything under the coat. Kanda held the boy close to him, one arm over the boy's shoulder.

"I found him on the beach; tell the old man that we'll have a guest for tonight's dinner", then Kanda walked away with the boy – who didn't seem to walk very well Lavi noticed. He shook his head and then went to find 'the old man'.

Kanda brought Allen to his personal bathroom; on the way he'd asked a maid to come wash Allen and bring him a set of clothes. Allen had an amazed look on his face when he tried to take in everything around him. Kanda took off the coat, but Allen didn't notice it, everything was so _different_, so beautiful.

"When she comes in you'll need to take of that sweater", Kanda remarked and pulled the silky garment. Allen nodded absentmindedly and Kanda rolled his eyes, he had Allen sit down on a chair next to the bathtub and covered him with his towel, then he said:

"I'll be right outside", Allen smiled and nodded and Kanda left the room. In his room he met the maid who bowed quickly and then walked into the bathroom. Kanda sat down on a black armchair and leaned back.

He'd come to that beach every night since that night when Allen had given him the golden earring, he had put it in a small box on his desk for safe-keeping. Every night when he got to the beach he fantasized about seeing that silver merman on the beach, with that beautiful smile on his face as he called for Kanda...

Instead he'd seen the same merman trying– and failing – to walk on the beach. With slender, soft-looking legs, but still that beautiful smile that could lit up a whole room – the smile Allen only had when with him, the smile he loved so much, and the happiness in his voice when calling his name...

Suddenly a scream was heard from the bathroom, Kanda stood up just in time for when the maid ran out from the bathroom in panic.

"A demon! It's a demon!" She yelled, Kanda roughly grabbed her arm and forced her to stay put.

"What the hell do you think you're saying?" He asked angrily as he glared at her. She cowered but didn't say anything – for fear of insulting her master. Kanda growled and told her to leave, which she did immediately.

He hurriedly walked to the bathroom, afraid that she'd done anything to his Bean Sprout. Wait... his? He shrugged that thought off and opened the door. Allen was sitting in the bathtub, shock and worry plastered on his face. Kanda sighed in relief and he took of his shoes and went to sit on the discarded stool next to the bathtub. Allen observed him intently, switching to look at the door a few times, then he felt the scrub on his back and he looked at Kanda surprised.

"Kanda?" He asked a bit confused.

"I'll do it, don't worry about her", he answered and continued scrubbing Allen's back.

"I thought she wouldn't mind... because you didn't and... sorry" Allen said and looked down. Kanda gently took hold of Allen's chin and had him look at him.

"It is I who should be sorry, I didn't think that others would be so..." Kanda stopped himself, the two gazed at each other for a moment, but then Allen interrupted the silence with a question Kanda would rather not want to answer.

"What's this between my legs, Kanda?" Allen asked innocently and showed him his penis.

...

"Kanda, do I _have_ to wear, what were its name again... right, shoes?" Allen asked as he was lead to the dining room by Kanda. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt with a grey vest on top, he had white gloves on his hands, black pants and black, _uncomfortable _shoes.

"Because human's wear them, that's why", Kanda answered, feeling a bit frustrated from all the questions Allen had continuously asked him ever since they finished bathing him. Why couldn't he wear his own sweater? Why does he need to wear underwear? And now he was trying (read: failing) to walk with the shoes the maid had brought for him.

"I don't like them", Allen decided firmly, Kanda rolled his eyes for the umpteenth-time that evening and then he opened the double doors.

The two walked into an extravagant room with a large table in the middle, the walls had a lot of paintings – of important looking men and women – and there were candles everywhere. On one end of the table sat an old man with frizzy hair, on his left sat a tall, bald man Allen recognized from the ship and next to him sat a shorter man with short, dark blonde hair, and next to him sat another man with brown hair up in a small ponytail. On the old man's right were two empty seats and on the third sat that red-headed guy Allen recognized from the ship as well from when he arrived to Kanda's large home.

"You must be that guest Lavi told us about, what's your name boy?" The old man asked friendly from his seat. Kanda lead Allen to the seat next to the old man and Kanda sat down next to Lavi.

"M-my name's A-allen", Allen responded nervously, the old man laughed heartily – releasing the tension Allen felt.

"It's nice to meet you Allen, my name is Froi Tiedoll", the old man introduced himself as, "and these three on my left are my sons, Marie, Daisya and Chaoji", he pointed at each man respectively. "And that one, next to Yuu is Lavi, a friend to the family", Lavi waved at him and smiled friendly at Allen who nodded back. Just then some servants came in with platters with many different kinds of food.

The dinner went without any disturbances or embarrassments. Kanda had at first been worried that Allen wouldn't eat the fish that had been served, but he was surprised to see Allen gulp it down with no care in the world. Then a maid came up next to him and asked:

"More wine, Your Highness?" Kanda declined and the maid went to ask Lavi who accepted the offer. Allen looked at Kanda with curious eyes, Kanda turned to him and demanded:

"What?" Though, his tone wasn't as harsh as it would have been if the one staring at him had been anyone else. Allen shook his head and then he asked:

"Are you a very important person, Kanda?" Everyone on the table suddenly went quiet and then everyone, except Allen and Kanda, began to laugh. Allen looked confusedly at everyone, wondering what was so funny. Then Tiedoll began to speak:

"Didn't Yuu tell you? He's my youngest son, a prince!" Allen's eyes widened in surprise and he turned to stare at Kanda who rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"You are?" Allen asked incredulously.

"Hmpf, don't go around bowing to me now, Bean Sprout", Kanda answered curtly.

"No, I was just surprised. Haha, what a coincidence, I'm a prince too!" The table went quiet once again. But now Kanda was the one to break the silence.

"What?" Shock apparent in his voice, Allen nodded quickly and Kanda looked at him in a new light. A prince, huh? Tiedoll bent forward and looked more closely at the humanized merman, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Boy, where do you come from? If I may ask", He asked, Allen got a slight panicked look but he calmed down in an instant when he felt Kanda's hand on his thigh, the human prince answered in his stead.

"He comes from the other side of the ocean, a small kingdom far away", Allen glanced at him and nodded slowly to confirm. Tiedoll raised an eyebrow and said:

"But I must have met your parents at the World Conference, everyone attends that meeting every year", Allen didn't know what to answer to that, but he nodded almost unnoticeable, Tiedoll continued with his inquires:

"What's your parents' name, young prince?"

"I-i..." Allen didn't know what to say, Kanda didn't either. He'd always believed that Adam was his father, but apparently it was this Mana, and he was the Crown Prince, and his father was killed right in front of him...

Scenes flashed before his eyes, three mermen in front of him, one with short brown hair, and two with short black hair. Blood, screams, two killed in front of him. And then...

Allen awoke in a bed, Kanda sat next to him so he guessed that it was Kanda's bed he lied in. He didn't remember getting here and he realized that he must've fallen unconscious. He grimaced at the embarrassment and the motion alerted Kanda that he was awake.

"Bean Sprout", he acknowledged him calmly.

"I'm sorry, I just... I don't... I'm sorry", he finished lamely.

"What the hell are you apologizing for?" Kanda leaned back in his seat next to the bed.

When Allen had suddenly fallen unconscious after his father had asked his parents' names, Kanda had been really shocked. He'd no idea what had just happened or why. Allen had gone white as his hair and then started shaking and then he slumped in his seat and would've fallen down to the floor if not Kanda had caught him in time.

Tiedoll had immediately asked for a doctor but Kanda had just picked the younger boy up bridal style and head back to his room. A maid had been cleaning his room when he arrived and he curtly ordered her to leave immediately – but he didn't notice that the door had been left ajar and a shadow right outside.

When she left Kanda put Allen carefully on the bed and then had the sheet cover him. He checked the temperature but there was no fever, actually he looked to be in a deep sleep, so Kanda sat down on a chair next to the bed and waited for the Bean-Sprout-fish to wake up.

Allen clenched his gloved hands and shut his eyes tightly shut. That one innocent question had been such a blow to him. He had known that Adam wasn't his father, that Mana was and that he was to be the king of the ocean. He'd known all that and he still...

He's eyes widened in realization, he didn't just _know_ anymore – he _remembered_ now.

His memories were in disarray but he remembered them – he knew what had happened.

And he knew that he couldn't flee from his responsibilities towards the kingdom – Mana and his uncle Neah had drilled that into him.

"Bean Sprout?" Allen shook his head and a corner of his lips tugged upwards when he saw the worried expression on Kanda's face. He raised his gloved left hand and caressed Kanda's left cheek and chin. The human prince frowned but didn't move away.

"What's wrong?" He then asked when he saw Allen's saddened face. The merman-turned-human shook his head and smiled.

"Nothing's wrong Kanda", he answered and shook his head lightly again; Kanda narrowed his eyes at the answer. He grabbed the hand caressing him and he then proceeded to trap Allen under him. Allen's eyes widened and he tried to wriggle himself loose – but Kanda's grip was too hard.

"_What_ is it?" Kanda almost growled as he brought his face closer to Allen, who blushed at the close proximity.

"I-it's no-oth..." Allen tried to say but Kanda interrupted him.

"If you say 'it's nothing' again..." The silent threat didn't go unnoticed by Allen and he calmed down.

"I won't be able to stay..." He finally said making Kanda stare at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" He then asked.

"I have to go back soon... and..." Allen didn't want to finish that sentence, but Kanda's continuing stare at him told him that he had to. "I won't come back", he finished and closed his eyes, trying to quench the burning sensation behind his eyelids.

Kanda then suddenly let go of him, he sat down again on the chair and looked down at the floor. He had known that Allen wouldn't stay forever – that this was just a brief happiness they could share until thorn apart. But there was still one nagging question...

"Why?" Allen tilted his head a little and Kanda clarified, "Why can't you stay?" Allen then took his hand in his and pressed his cheek against the hand, he closed his eyes to stop the tears but one escaped and found its way to the hand. Kanda felt it and he observed the smaller boy intently.

"Because my place is with my own kind, there's something I have to do and... regardless if I succeed or not, we won't be able to meet again", Allen raised his head and his gaze met Kanda's own.

"What do you have to do?" Kanda asked breaking the silence.

"It's my problem, you don't need..." But Allen was interrupted again.

"_Answer me_!" Allen chuckled at Kanda's stubbornness but he complied.

He told Kanda everything. About Adam who'd killed his father and other uncle and then instead of killing him Adam had erased his memory and then pretended to be his father. But that after Allen had met Kanda he'd decided that Allen had to die before his memories returned and then how Allen had fled and met up with Lenalee and her brother.

Kanda had been quiet the whole time, silently digesting the new information. That Allen had had such a life... that his own uncle wanted him dead. That Allen was the Crown Prince and as such had a responsibility towards his people. Even though he could be selfish and want Allen to stay with him forever, he knew Allen wouldn't be able to feel the same way – Allen was too nice for his own good.

"But you won't leave right now, right?" Kanda then asked, Allen blinked and then he shook his head, the dark-haired man smirked and said:

"Then move over, we'll go up early tomorrow."

"Uhm... why?" Allen asked but he did as Kanda ordered. The older man didn't answer until he'd undressed and got into the bed.

"I'm showing you around tomorrow."

The two didn't notice the shadow silently closing the door to the room.

...

Allen had first been hesitant to show up at breakfast but Kanda wouldn't have any of it and unceremoniously dragged him there. And after that Kanda had ordered a servant to have an open carriage and a strong horse ready.

So, soon after breakfast the two of them left the castle, Kanda wanted to show Allen the world above the ocean surface, and Allen wanted to spend time with Kanda. They had brought lunch with them; Kanda thought they should eat lunch outside somewhere, Allen didn't mind – he wanted to be outside as much as possible. Feeling the wind against his face, smelling the sweet flower scent... everything! He wanted to see it all.

When they arrived to the nearby town, Kanda had a hard time keeping Allen by his side, whenever the merman saw something new he'd quickly went closer to it – Kanda was surprised that Allen could move around so fast when he barely was able to walk just this morning.

Allen asked him how the water mills functioned, what certain fruits were called, if he could taste some of the foods in the different stands – making Kanda call him a glutton. Though, by eating lunch in town enabled the two to skip dinner back at the castle – and Kanda was more than happy to be away from his 'family'.

They came back to the castle late. It was dark outside and the twinkling lights from the town were mesmerizing in Allen's eyes. In the underwater city he was born and raised there never were lights like this. The lights down there was... cold and dull – whereas above the surface it was warm and almost dancing. The light was full of life! It felt to Allen as if he could just start laughing for no reason at all – except seeing that dancing light.

A warm hand took his, Allen looked up to meet Kanda's calm gaze, Allen smiled and hunched closer to the warm body next to him. They were sitting on Kanda's comfy bench on his balcony, watching the many lights – well Allen was, Kanda on the other hand was just enjoying the closeness and the silence.

"I wish there was no tomorrow..." Allen drowsily said, his head falling down to rest on Kanda's right shoulder. The man put his arm over the smaller man's shoulders, effectively pulling him closer.

"Yeah..." Kanda answered quietly. Tomorrow was the last day before Allen had to leave – forever. The last day he would be able to see those stormy eyes, those luscious, soft lips widening into a bright smile whenever Allen looked his way.

"Allen..." Kanda whispered and the white-haired man looked up at other.

"What?" He asked, Kanda came closer to his face, at first Allen stayed still but when Kanda came even closer he started lean away. Annoyed, Kanda stopped him with his free hand and brought their lips together for a deep, passionate kiss.

He had one day to find out a way to stay with Allen.

One day.

**EXTRA!**

**These are scenes that at first were supposed to be in the story but I changed my mind, so you can read them here. Mind you – what is written here does happen in the story; I just thought it didn't fit in the main story.**

This first part is Kanda's reaction to Allen's question from the bath scene:

_Kanda stopped scrubbing him immediately in favor of controlling himself._

"_Is everything alright, Kanda?" Allen asked worriedly, "you look a bit pale..."_

"_It's nothing, sit still... I need to finish..." vivid images came floating to Kanda unwillingly. He gritted his teeth – trying hard to think of something else. Allen was now calmly sitting in the bathtub with his back to Kanda and as such didn't see Kanda's red face._

**And this part is after the end of the chapter – when Kanda and Allen lie in bed together:**

_Allen snuggled up to Kanda, who put his arm around him. Feeling content Allen tried to find a way to ask that one question that's been nagging him for some time now. Allen glanced up at Kanda – his facial expression was indifferent, which it always was, his breathing calm and rhythmic, his hair just as silky as before. Allen carefully slid a finger up Kanda's chest, neck and lastly the lips, making Kanda open his eyes. He was about to ask Allen what he was doing when the finger pressed against his lips gently. Kanda furrowed his eyebrows, confused at Allen's behavior._

"_Kanda... you remember that night at the beach, and you asked how we mere's reproduce...?" Kanda slowly nodded, the finger was still on his lips. Allen blushed before continuing, he didn't look Kanda in the eyes, "Well, I was just wondering... how do humans do it? How do you reproduce?" Allen was completely red now, he took away his finger from the other's mouth and brought it closer to his body._

_Kanda smirked, he gently took hold of Allen's chin and had Allen look up at him, Allen noticed the smirk and raised an eyebrow, he was just about to ask 'what?' when Kanda suddenly kissed him._

"_I'll show you..." Kanda whispered to his ear, making Allen shiver from delight._

**And then they had hot, smexy smex.**

* * *

_I hope you'll be patient with me and wait for the third (and hopefully last) chapter of **For Eternity!**_

_To clarify: I'm not making this M-rated because I feel that would stop me from writing since I'm still not used to writing lemons - noticed how all of my writer's block was before a lemon chapter?_

_Have a nice week!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Oh my gods. I can't believe it took a whole freaking term before I updated this. *SIGH*_

_But it is finished ^_^ and I hope you like the end. A bit cliché, but it **is** based on a farytale so..._

_And happy birthday Allen._

* * *

**Part 3.**

Allen woke up feeling complete. Though, as he became more aware of his surroundings he also became more aware of the pain in his lower back – the proof of what he and Kanda had done last night. Allen turned around expecting to see the man's expressionless face, but the bed was empty. Kanda was gone. Frowning, Allen sat up in the bed looking around the room but Kanda was nowhere to be seen.

"Kanda?" Allen resorted to call for him, but there was no answer. Allen then saw new clothes on a chair by the window to his right; Allen guessed they were for him. He stood up and gasped when the pain felt like a knife sticking into his back, he sat down on the bed and waited for the pain to recede, massaging the hurt area carefully. The he tried again. This time it went better. He took the few steps to the chair and held up new pair of underwear, he put them on and then put on the new pants and a long-sleeved shirt. The clothes fit quite well and Allen wondered where Kanda got them from.

Then the door opened, Allen stood completely still and observed the doorway intently. Then he saw a small cart being pushed in by man, a servant, he didn't recognize and after him came Kanda, Allen smiled widely.

"You're up", Kanda just said when he saw Allen.

"Where were you?" Allen asked. Kanda pointed towards the cart.

"Getting some breakfast for us", he said, the servant pushed the cart to the bed and then he bowed for Kanda and left as quietly as he'd arrived. Allen could smell the wonderful scent of different kinds of food and as in a trance he made his way to the cart. Kanda shook his head at Allen's behavior.

The food had been utterly delicious, Allen thought, it had been perfect. He and Kanda had eaten on the human prince's private balcony which had a view of the ocean, Allen lazily watched the constantly changing water from his seat, Kanda was sitting on a chair on the other side of the table.

He could feel it, the ocean – calling for him. It was such a powerful tug in his very being that the urge to jump from the balcony and down to the water was almost irresistible.

He resented that feeling.

If Allen could decide then he would stay with Kanda for as long as he lived. But he knew... he knew that he didn't belong in the human world. He looked human when dressed like one; he could walk like one; talk like one; and almost behave like one; but he wasn't one of them.

He didn't want to leave, but he had to.

He needed to take back the throne from the Earl – he couldn't run away anymore.

"Bean Sprout", Allen suddenly realized where he was and turned to Kanda.

"Yes?" He asked.

"You were spacing out."

"Got a lot on my mind." Kanda shifted in his seat and his eyes drilled into Allen.

"Do you know what you're going to do, once you turn back?" Allen turned his head to face the ocean again.

"No", was his short answer. Silence befell the couple, Kanda didn't know what to say and Allen was deep in thought, but then:

"There is no way for me to help you?" Kanda was once again staring right at Allen. The merman was taken aback for a second and was just about to shake his head when he remembered: Komui had given him two vials – one to turn a merman to human and one to turn a human to... Allen got up quickly and ran into the room, curious, Kanda followed him. Allen had flung himself over the bed to reach the nightstand on the other side. He took hold of the pouch and with a triumphant smile he turned to Kanda to show him the other potion.

"This!" Allen exclaimed happily, Kanda looked at him and then at the liquid.

"What the hell's that?" Allen smiled widely.

"It's a potion to turn a human into a merman", Allen explained and glanced at the suspicious looking green liquid. Kanda examined it more closely.

"That doesn't look..."

"Yeah", Allen interrupted, knowing full well what Kanda was about to say, "but the other potion worked so I guess this will too... originally this was supposed to bring someone like me back in case I wanted to go back to the sea earlier but..."

"That potion will let me come with you?" Allen nodded. Kanda smirked, "then tonight I'll see how you live."

"But we have to be careful, I don't know who I can trust except Komui... the one who made this potion", Allen quickly added, "and being a merma..." He was interrupted by the door burst open and a certain red-headed man waltzed in. Kanda was just about to attack him when Lavi threw up his hands in the air for mercy.

"I'm sorry, Yuu-chan", Lavi began, making Kanda growl for the use of his first name, "yeah... old habits die hard, right?"

"Why are you here?" Kanda was barely able to speak because of his anger, Lavi still held his hands up in a pacifying manner.

"I knew something was up when little Allen here came here with you, and after that eventful dinner Tiedoll asked me to check up on him since you ran off with him so quickly... and... well... I heard this most peculiar story while I was standing outside the door..."

"I'm gonna cut off your fucking ears!" Kanda reached for his trusted katana but Allen, who'd been silent during the whole exchange, spoke up:

"Stop that! That won't solve anything", muttering, Kanda clenched his fists and stood straight next by the bed. Lavi raised an eyebrow but decided not to voice his thoughts.

"How much did you hear?" Allen asked Lavi, who deemed it safe to take down his hands. While getting the blood circulation back into his arms Lavi said:

"Enough, I guess, you're some merman crown prince of the ocean kingdom and your uncle wants you dead."

"Pretty much, yes."

"Interesting life you lead, sounds like the plots in some books I've read."

"Get to the point!" Kanda said and Lavi, knowing full well of Kanda's temper problems continued quickly.

"I want in", that took the two princes by surprise.

"What?" Allen asked, not really believing what he'd heard.

"No!" Kanda exclaimed.

"Yuu, I'm not going to let you go on an adventure _all by yourself_! I won't let you get all the fun!" Lavi retorted.

"I guess it would be okay with me... but I've only got one potion..." Allen said and Kanda smirked triumphantly.

"But that whole dose let's one man become a merman for three days, right? Then if Yuu-chan and I drunk half of it each then we might be mermen for one and a half day!" Lavi smiled back at Kanda, whose smirk was replaced by clenched teeth.

"I'm not sure that's how it works..." Allen said hesitantly.

"Don't worry, let Lavi the Bookman get everything fixed up for sunset", Lavi pumped a fist into the air in victory motion and then almost too quickly for the two princes to notice he took the small phial from Allen's hand and pranced out through the door.

"He... can be trusted... right?" Allen asked and turned to the human prince. Kanda didn't answer.

* * *

The sun would soon set, the three men stood on the beach and waited patiently, Allen stood slightly in front of the two others. The ocean's call was even stronger now; he could feel it pulling him – willing him to return.

The ocean's where he belonged; there was no denying that fact, he could try and run on land but the ocean would always pull him back. Allen knew that if he returned to the ocean, he would never set foot on human lands anymore, this was the last time he would walk on legs – be human.

The sun turned almost fiery red and Allen could feel that now was the time. Without a word he undressed – shocking the two humans behind him – under the white shirt he'd been wearing he had that special garment on, and on his ear he had his golden earring. He waded out into the sea – the thug becoming more powerful for each step. When the water-level was over his waist he waited, and the sun set.

The pain was immense. He couldn't breathe properly and suddenly his legs were forced together and his lost his footing. He fell sideways into the water, alerting Kanda who immediately came running after him. Just when Kanda was about grab him Allen emerged from under the water, hitting Kanda's head with his own.

"Ow..." Allen rubbed the hurt spot, he heard splashing and suddenly Lavi was standing beside the two.

"Uhm... did everything go well?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah", Allen splashed the water with his silvery tail fin and Lavi looked at it mesmerized.

"Well I'll be... come one Yuu-chan! Our turn now!" He took hold of Kanda's hand and impatiently dragged him back to the beach, once there they undressed as well and put the clothes in a small bag Lavi had brought. Once everything was in there he hid it in a small crevice between two rocks. Later the two men stood naked in chest deep water – shuddering.

"H-h-h-ho-o-ow-w c-ca-an yo-u s-s-sta-n-d th-i-is c-c-col-d?" Lavi asked, finding it hard not to stutter, Kanda was smart enough to keep quiet – he didn't want to risk ruining his reputation because of him _stuttering_.

"It's not cold", Allen said looking back at them obliviously, and he splashed some water on himself – loving the feel of the salt water running down on his face. "So, are you going to drink the potion? I won't blame you if you decide not..." Kanda being sick of waiting opened one of the two phials and drank the half of the potion Lavi had poured into it. Lavi manned up and did the same.

Kanda never could have realized the pain of transforming – he could _feel_ his legs melting together, his insides changing, and before he knew it he was under the water surface when his balance failed him. In reflex he held his breath, his eyes closed as the salt water stung his eyes. Then he felt a hand on his cheek and his eyes opened in a flash. Allen smiling face was right in front of him and with his fingers he gently had Kanda open his mouth to take the breath he desperately needed.

And it was done.

He was under the water – breathing, feeling strangely warm, the water that had been so cold just moments before was now just enough to keep him warm. What surprised him the most was how clearly he could see. For any human the water would be dark, cold, and murky – but for him it was the opposite! It wasn't cold or murky it was lukewarm and clear. It was still dark since the sun had set but his vision was still sharp. He looked down at himself and found instead of his legs a dark marine blue tail fin. Tentatively he tried to have it move and he was surprised once again at how much of the fin he could feel and control. He took a deep breath and feeling the salt water flow down his throat was disconcerting to say the least, but strangely normal. He looked around and saw Allen helping Lavi cope with this new environment. Lavi had a tail fin as fiery red as his hair, though perhaps slightly more orange. The bandana Lavi always wore didn't want to stay in one place so he took it off and put it around his arm instead, his eye patch stuck to his face like glue though.

"You feeling okay?" Allen asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm okay, it's... just... kinda... hard to..." Lavi said while trying to move forward, "move", he kicked with the fin and suddenly he was upside down.

"It can't be that fucking hard!" Kanda exclaimed and he, too, kicked with the fin thinking that he should at least be able to shoot up to the surface – but that didn't happen. Instead he somehow 'tripped' and made a spin in the water, slowly landing on his back on the sand on the bottom.

Allen, having watched everything without saying anything, started to laugh, bending double when he couldn't get enough air. The two humans-turned-mermen couldn't have felt more embarrassed.

* * *

They were on their way to Komui. Allen thought that would be the best thing to do and Komui might be able to help him in getting to the palace. He was still unsure how he was going to take back the throne; somehow it felt as if he was stealing from his Uncle – when it was his Uncle who'd in the beginning had stolen from him.

"Hey, wait up!" Lavi called from behind. Allen stopped and looked back to see the red-head struggling to swim straight. They were having more trouble swimming that Allen had walking – he was close to mentioning that but he decided not to when he saw Kanda's angry expression when he wasn't doing any better than his fellow man.

Allen began regretting having them come with him, though that feeling disappeared when he saw Kanda's frustration when some seaweed decided to trap him. They came to a quick end by Kanda's katana.

They were just about to swim past a large cliff when they heard the scrambling noise from men in armor. Allen quickly had the three of them hide behind the cliff and they floated there, waiting for the coast to clear. Then they heard talking from the group of soldiers.

"Remember, Prince Allen is to be captured and no harm is to be done to him", Allen knew that voice, and despite Kanda's silent protests he swam on top of the cliff to see the group from above. In the front of the group was Tyki – his bro... no, cousin. His hair was wavier now and for the occasion up in a low pony-tail.

"Your Highness, our orders come from the King himself", another merman began, his armor was golden with red markings – indicating that he was the captain over this batch, "and _his_ orders were to kill Prince Allen _on sight_." Allen's eyes widened in shock.

"I'm not going to let you do that!" Tyki exclaimed and, too quickly for the men closest to him, took up his crossbow and shot a merman to his right. The crossbow was small enough to let him hold it in one hand and have a short sword in the other. When the captain noticed that some of the men hesitating to fight back he yelled:

"The King also said to eliminate anyone hindering us from completing our mission!" From that point on Tyki had a much harder time to fight as all thirteen soldiers who were left attacked him at the same time.

Tyki managed to counter them and then shoot them with the crossbow but he didn't notice the captain bringing out his own sword to stab him in the back – but Allen did. Quickly and without thinking he shot himself from the cliff, down to the fight.

The captain was taken of guard and didn't manage to cut away from the jet that was Allen. Without thinking the Prince hit him in the face and then took his weapon. Tyki stared at him in surprise.

"You..." He started but was interrupted by the other soldiers who were much more vicious now, Tyki was about to shoot one with the crossbow when a sword suddenly came out of the mer's chest. Both Tyki and the soldier stared at the sword and just as suddenly as it had appeared it was taken out and the soldier sank to the bottom, blood coloring the ocean water red.

"Damn it, it's too slow!" Kanda muttered and parried an attacking soldier, though since the surprise from his appearance was over he had a much harder time fighting them than he would have if it had been above ground. Another soldier came up from his left and was about to attack him but just as he was about to he sank like a rock to the ocean floor; a small arrow coming out of his skull. Not caring about the now dead mer he grabbed the soldier's, the one he was fighting, shoulder and pulled him towards him, effectively running Mugen through him. The soldier made a gurgling sound as blood came up his throat; Kanda then pushed him away and retreated without any mishaps.

He looked around the area and saw that Lavi was just finishing up the soldier he fought; Tyki was standing in the middle sheathing his short sword but he didn't put away the crossbow. He found Allen somewhat sitting on the sand near the body of the captain.

Slowly – to not lose his dignity in front of the black haired merman – Kanda swam to Allen. The merman Prince acknowledge his presence by glancing at him, then he softly spoke:

"This mer... Koru was his name... he always came with me when Tim and I went out in the city or outside when I was younger", Allen chuckled at a memory he just recalled, "we always hid from him, so whenever he found us he would be so angry..." No one said anything for awhile when Allen went quiet, then:

"Allen..." slowly, said mer turned his head so his silver eyes locked with Tyki's golden. "Why did you come back?" Tyki asked, Lavi raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. Kanda on the other hand was about to do something violent – either verbal or physical – but Allen stopped him with his hand on his shoulder. The silver merman then swam to Tyki and stopped when there was about one arm's length between them. For what felt like the longest time for the two human-turned-mermen's Allen and Tyki just stared at each other. Then Tyki said:

"So, you remember", it wasn't a question, just as statement of fact. Sighing Tyki put away his crossbow, "could you please explain why _that_", pointing at Kanda, "is here?"

"His name is Kanda, Tyki."

"I don't acquaint myself with humans." Allen chuckled at Tyki's stubbornness, "_what_?"

"N-nothing", Allen said, forcing himself to stop laughing. After he'd composed himself he said:

"Anyway, that over there is Kanda, and the red-headed one is Lavi, they wanted to come with me when I returned to the ocean..."

"How in the name of Lord Poseidon can they be mermen?" Tyki interrupted and stared at the Lavi's tail fin. Feeling just a bit self conscious Lavi discreetly nudged himself over to where Kanda was floating.

"Do you know of Komui?" Frowning, Tyki slowly nodded.

"Think I heard of him, yes", he said.

"I met him the day I..." Allen paused trying to find the right word, "fled from the palace. He lives in a in-cave-house not too far from here with his sister and he gave me a potion that could turn me into a human for limited time..."

"_You what_?" Tyki was practically boiling; Allen could almost feel the water around him warm up.

"Yes, I became human – _and I enjoyed every second of it_!" Allen retorted with force. Tyki massaged his temples.

"You, my dear brother, are giving me a headache... you're very good at that, you know?"

"We're not brothers, Tyki."

"I know, but even so, you are like one to me", Tyki sighed, "so, this mer, Komui, made you human and then made these two mers?"

"Yes."

"Why is that even possible?" He then muttered under his breath, then with a louder voice he said: "We should get outta here, this place will be swarming with sharks soon." Allen nodded in agreement and proceeded to lead the way to Komui's home.

* * *

They swam over that beautiful field of flowers, everyone but Allen looked at it in either awe or with a raised eyebrow. Then suddenly something black and green crashed into Allen sending him and the unknown assailant down to the flower bed beneath. While trying to catch his breath, Allen tried to sit up but Lenalee didn't let go of her hard grip.

"Mhm... who is this, Allen?" Tyki asked as he descended to the bottom with the other two in tow.

"Aah... this is Lenalee, Komui's sister, uhm... Lenalee could you please let me go?" Pouting Lenalee did, but she smiled again almost immediately.

"So... what have you been doing these last few days?" Lenalee swam up so that she would be on equal level as the men and Kanda helped the slightly coughing Allen up.

"Up in the human world of course, don't you remember the potions Komui gave me?" Lenalee blinked and her mouth was slightly open.

"You... you actually went up to the surface?" Allen nodded. "You actually had legs and walked?" He nodded again. "On human lands?" Again he nodded. "And you didn't have any problems whatsoever?"

"No, it was splendid! The potion worked perfectly, and the other one did too", Allen gestured towards Kanda and Lavi. Lenalee stared at the two humans in disguise and blinked astonished again. "Uhm... Lenalee?" The mermaid shook her head and then asked:

"Really?" Her whole body language spoke volumes.

"Yes, it..."

"Wait! I need to tell my brother about this!" She quickly swam towards the house, which had the front door open, and yelled: "Brother! The potions you gave Allen worked! One of your inventions finally worked!"

"...Finally?" Lavi commented, not really liking the sound of that.

"WHAT? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING MY DARLING?"

"YOU ACTUALLY MANAGE TO MAKE A POTION WITHOUT SIDE EFFECTS! ALLEN BECAME HUMAN WITHOUT ANY CRAB LIMBS!" Komui came out of the house, his face was black with soot and he had a large cone-shaped device on his ear. The party of four cautiously approached the siblings and Lenalee said in a normal tone: "Komui did some experiments with explosives earlier, he can barely hear anything."

"YES I WOULD LOVE A TASTE!" Everyone stared at him like he was nuts. "BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY! YOU SAID THE POTIONS WORKED? REAL... YES OF COURSE IT WORKED! I'M A BRILLIANT ALCHEMIST! WHEN HAS ANYTHING I'VE DONE EVER FAILED?" Allen felt suddenly very afraid of that merman.

"What the _fuck's_ going on?" A slightly grumpy voice called from inside the cave-house. Allen knew that voice all too well, and when the red merman became visible in the valve he almost wanted to smash his head on a rock or even going as far as to help Komui with his experiments.

"Huuuh, the brat?"

"Nice to see you too, General Cross", Allen said, albeit a bit scornfully.

"You're still ugly as shit, _your Highness_", Cross said the last word with loads of sarcasm.

"And you're still a bastard, General."

"Shall we go inside, perhaps?" Lenalee suggested before the awkward silence went on too long, and before she'd even finished the sentence Cross had gone inside. They found him in the living room, sitting on a shell chair – and to Kanda and Lavi it looked as if he was smoking... bubbles?

"Hrm... pssssssss... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lavi couldn't hold himself that very long. Everyone stared at him, though Kanda looked the other way – he's got his pride you know.

"B-bubbles! Holy... BUBBLES! Oh man, what would old Panda say to that? BUBBLES!"

"'Old Panda'?" Allen asked Kanda, who silently killed Lavi in his mind over and over again.

""His grandfather."

"Oh."

"What the fuck's so funny, damn clownfish?" Cross demanded. Lavi laughed so much he couldn't breathe.

"Uhm... Lavi, you okay?" Allen asked a bit worriedly.

"He'll be fine", Kanda said off-handedly, Allen gave him a disbelieving glance.

"I don't really think so..."

"Oh, he's turning blue", Lenalee commented, with a curious look on her face, a finger on her lips. When Lavi was bending over on the floor – laughing way too much to be appropriate – Lenalee suddenly hit his back with her fin; hard – like a whiplash. That had Lavi cry out in pain – but he did catch his breath.

"Damn it, you stupid rabbit! Can't you even stay _normal_ for two God damn minutes?" Kanda exclaimed, ready to go even further if not Cross had yelled:

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

No one even dared to breathe.

"Brat", he said, addressing Allen, "Who the fuck are those two? It's painfully obvious that they're not mers."

"Uhm... they're... Uuh..." Allen didn't really want to tell the General that.

"And why in the name of Poseidon is one of the Noah bastard brats here?"

"I resent that statement, General", Tyki calmly retorted. Cross waved him off.

"Uhm... it's just that... stuff... happened and then these other stuff..." here's when Allen remembered last night and began to blush furiously, having Cross get a confused look.

"Brat, you're not making any sense." Manning up, Allen took a deep breath and told him everything – except a few details of course.

* * *

"So we need to kill him."

"What?" Allen and Tyki exclaimed almost simultaneously, Cross looked at them.

"It's the only way."

"No, no, isn't there any other..." Allen was interrupted by the General.

"_I just said it was the only fucking way_! Learn to listen!" The room got that awkward silence again.

"Why?" Allen then asked, Tyki was silent, deep in thoughts.

"Why not? You hate him, don't you?"

"I wouldn't go that far..."

"He killed his brothers, your father and other Uncle, right in front of you."

"But to kill him...?"

"You don't know then?"

"Know what?"

"The Power of Kings", it wasn't Cross that answered, it was Tyki, "I see, because of Allen regaining his memories..."

"Then you understand that killing Adam is the only way", it was more of a statement than a question, Tyki nodded and Cross' eyes settled on Allen again who was utterly confused – along with the rest of the group.

"This was only known to four mers in the whole Kingdom. Mana, Neah, Adam and myself. Though, now I guess your siblings know about it as well?"

"Yes", Tyki answered.

"Excuse me but... what is 'The Power of Kings'?" Lavi asked, albeit a bit hesitantly. Cross gave him a look that had Lavi fearfully back down – and discreetly hide behind Kanda, who silently watched the scene unfold.

"The King of the Ocean Kingdom is not chosen by the people, nor is it decided entirely by which family one's born into, though that does have a say in it all. No, it is Lord Poseidon who chooses the one _best_ _suited _for being the King."

"And people haven't rebelled yet? Bullshit", Kanda cut in.

"There's already been a fucking rebellion! Dipshit! Ten years ago", Cross did not like being interrupted. Allen stopped Kanda from doing something stupid. "Anyway, for _obvious_ reasons Adam, the oldest, weren't chosen, Mana was."

"What reasons exactly?" Lenalee asked.

"Adam is an ambitious, greedy and jealous bastard... he's also fat."

"..."

"He has been trying to diet, you know?" Tyki casually said.

"Yeah, _trying_", Cross snorted.

"Can we please get back on topic?" Allen pleaded.

"Ugh, I'm getting sick of this already... fine, I'll give you the short version. You're the true heir to the throne like in the damn story books, Adam's got nothing on you so he dies, you become king everything's good."

"...that did not explain anything, Cross", Allen commented.

"Shut up, you're the idiot here."

"Allen, it's like this: Lord Poseidon choo... well I guess it's more accurate to say that "the Power of Kings" chooses, but anyway. The one that becomes king gets this little perk which involves in him having the power to... I don't really know what the king can do, the important part is that it exists, but since Father was never chosen, he cannot really control it. So far so good?" Tyki looked around the room; the others nodded, though still a bit confused. "Because of that, Father has to subjugate that power, and therefore can't really use it as much as he would've liked."

"And that is beca..." Allen began.

"Yes, that's because of you, Allen. During the years we all lived together, Father had to continuously use more and more power as you became older, to suppress that power, which yearned for you. I guess you noticed the dismissive way he treated you sometimes?"

"It became harder to control it?"

"Exactly. I guess we've could have continued living like that, but the seal he put on your memories broke and it suddenly became a lot harder – and I really mean _a lot_..."

"Because now it knows exactly who you are and it can sense you much easier than when you believed you were the fatty's son", Cross continued and then he shuddered, "That you can even stand being his relative..." Then they were again quiet for awhile.

"So, how are we doing this then?" To everyone's surprise it was Komui who'd spoken. Allen and Tyki looked at each other.

"You should still be able to enter the palace without trouble..." Allen's said.

"And you shouldn't really have any problems sneaking in." Tyki answered, and Allen smirked.

"I've got _lots_ of practice."

* * *

"Welcome back, Your Highness!" A soldier said and bowed to Tyki.

"At ease, Captain Ran", Tyki calmly said and continued in through the palace gates. He swam at a calmly and dignified through the royal yard, passing the many guards. Then he was inside the palace. He was confident that nothing would be in his way, no one knew what had happened with the soldiers he had had with him anyway. He had the guards open the big doors to the throne room, and he went in. the throne room was well lit, blue green lights adorning the walls, and at the other end of the large, slightly rectangular room was the throne itself and behind the throne was a large statue depicting the Lord of the Ocean; Poseidon. Though Tyki's attention wasn't at the throne – it was at the merman sitting on it.

"Tyki... you are back early", King Adam said slowly, Tyki slightly bowed with his head.

"Yes, Father. There are some matters that needs to be done."

"What kind of matters?" Tyki smiled sadly.

"I need to apologize", the Earl narrowed his eyes, feeling the change. "I cannot stand by and watch anymore..."

"What are you...?" Then he saw another merman coming from behind Tyki. Cross smirked at him and then said:

"Hello, Earl."

* * *

"This city needs more color..." Lavi whispered to Allen, as the two of them and Kanda slowly made their way towards the palace. They had come into the city without too much trouble – Allen knew some secret passages they could use. They were now almost to the palace gates. It would be easy to just swim over it, but they would be seen by almost every guard in the vicinity so their only chance was at getting past the one guard at the gate and then sneak through the sea weed and coral garden beyond it and then once in the palace sneak past the guards and servants to the throne room. Allen wished he had another idea, he had this feeling they would fail...

"You ready?" Kanda asked him in a low voice. Allen was drawn out of his contemplation and took a deep breath. Then he nodded. Kanda took out Mugen and Lavi found a nice, heavy rock. They quietly made their way over the guard, who at the moment had his back to them. Kanda was just about to cut him down when the guard turned around and everyone stopped with what they were doing. The guard stared at Allen in shock. Allen was unsure whether the guard would alert the others or...

"Why did you come back, Your Highness?" The guard asked, with a slight sadness in his tone, Allen blinked not understanding the situation, the guard continued: "You were safe as long as you kept away from here and the patrolling groups in the vicinity..." Then Allen understood. This guard wasn't one of the Earl's troops; this was one who had been under the old king's service – a soldier loyal to Mana.

"Captain Ran, as the Crown Prince I order you to let me in", Allen said in his most official and ordering voice he could manage. Ran, the guard, was caught off guard and for a moment Allen thought he had misjudged the man, but then Ran smiled.

"Yes, Your Highness! My life is yours forever!" And to the three's surprise the merman took them through the yard – in plain sight – towards the palace. A small batch of guards swam down to them.

"What is this, has the traitor been captured?" A black haired guard asked and smirked at Allen, "the King has told us to get rid of him at sight..." Then he was cut down by Ran's short sword.

"The Crown Prince has returned! Come brothers, it is time we cleanse this place from the foul stench the false King has brought over this place!" The other soldiers in the group cheered loudly and they swam into the palace weapons ready. Ran turned to Allen.

"We will clear the way, Your Highness!" Then he too left to battle inside the palace. Allen stared after him, a bit shocked at how well everything had gone.

"I guess they like you, Allen", Lavi said and laughed.

"And they're loyal", Kanda added, "let's continue", Allen nodded and the three swam into the palace.

It didn't take long before they were in the large doorway to the throne room. Earl, Tyki and Cross were there, the tension was tremendous.

"What is this treachery?" Adam bellowed, as Allen slowly swam towards the throne. They heard the battle raging on outside, the mers loyal to the Earl against the mers loyal to Mana and Allen. Then a side door was opened and guards loyal to Allen came in – with his many cousins in chains.

"Your Highness, Crown Prince Allen, we have brought the criminals!" It was Ran once again. Allen looked at the Noah family in front of him. He met eyes with them all. Adam got up from the throne in a flash; and anger could not describe the expression he wore.

"Captain, it is best that you and your men leave this room", Cross calmly ordered.

"Yes, General!" Ran bowed and then ordered his men to follow him out of the throne room – and closing the large double doors behind them.

"Now then", Cross turned to Adam again, "where were we?" The Earl glanced at Cross and then at Allen until his gaze fixed on Tyki.

"My son, to have gone so far in this treachery against me..." He began. "Do you not understand that this was for you and your brothers and sister? I did all this so that you could continue my legacy!"

"My qualms are not against them, it is only you. This cannot continue father, you cannot suppress it much longer, now that Allen..."

"THE THRONE IS MINE!" Earl bellowed, the lights flickered and the water got turbulent for a second. "It is my right to have it! I was the oldest of three! _I_ was supposed to be the king! Not that naïve fool for a brother!" As the Earl said this, he sat down on the throne again. Allen bit his lip, not really knowing what to do – rather, he knew _what_, just not _how_.

"Father", everyone's attention turned to Cyril, the Earl's oldest son. Not caring about the attention he got, he continued: "I know what it is that you're trying to accomplish, it's just that it will not succeed. Furthermore, we, all of us, have no intention of following you in this – we never had. None of us want to struggle to keep a power which was never ours to have..."

"You forsake me as well...?" Adam slowly said, rage clear in his voice. "I di..." then he suddenly went quiet. His breathing became heavier and seemed to use all of his power to keep from being ripped apart. Allen understood what was going on. Being in so close proximity to each other – it was weakening the control Adam had. Allen swam forward, closer to Adam.

"Stop this! If you don't stop then you will surely die!" Allen tried to convince Adam to give up, but he'd misjudged his Uncle. The Earl stared at Allen, his face showed nothing but true rage and hatred, and using those feelings he raised his hand and with a powerful blast he pushed Allen through the throne room so he hit the large double doors hard.

It went dark for his eyes, not having enough strength Allen slowly floated down to the floor. Cross took up his weapon, a specialized crossbow, and was to aim at the Earl when someone else got there before him.

Just when the Earl had attacked Allen, Kanda had unsheathed Mugen and shoot of towards the Earl – and just as he was about to strike Adam he was stopped by some kind of force field. He couldn't move Mugen at all. But then suddenly it was ripped out of his hands and too fast for him to react to...

Blood flushed from his chest and back. He was so surprised that he at first couldn't feel the pain, he took out Mugen from his chest but then he didn't have the strength to hold it any longer and dropped it. He then floated down to the floor, and when he lied there he could feel the pain, ever so slowly, spreading. The red water filled his vision and he had trouble breathing.

"Shit! Yuu!" Lavi called and hurriedly swam to Kanda, trying to stop the immense bleeding. Lavi was yet another red figure that Kanda saw. He still had his eyes open, his breathing shallow and rushed. He heard voices around him, but he couldn't hear what was being said. Then he saw something that was different from the redness everywhere. A white figure before his eyes. It called to him, that he knew, but even though he would like to answer he couldn't. Then everything suddenly went white. All color disappeared from his vision for a moment, and he could feel a push that shook the very foundation of the building. The light faded away but instead of the redness coming back it was darkness that slowly took over his vision. He could feel that something had happened just then. Something important. Then he heard a voice, he knew that voice, he wanted to hear that voice, so tried to listen – but the only thing he heard was:

"This is how it has to be, I'm sorry. I'll miss you..." Kanda didn't understand those words, but he knew that something went on that he didn't like. But the darkness was beckoning...

* * *

It was around midday when they woke up, on the beach – naked. Kanda sat up in flash. How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was...

"Uugh... my head", Kanda looked behind him and there was Lavi – naked as well. Lavi opened his eye and looked around. "Where the heck are we?" Then he saw Kanda and his eye widened. "What the hell were we _doing_?" He then asked in a shocked tone. Kanda shrugged and stood up. That's when he saw his bag and after opening it he saw that their clothes were in it. He took up his clothes then threw the bag at Lavi.

"Get dressed, we're leaving."

"Yeah yeah..." Lavi said and stood up as well, that's when he recognized the place. "Hey, isn't this the beach we found you after that storm?" Kanda glance at him and then he looked towards the ocean.

"Yeah..."

When Kanda and Lavi entered the castle, Kanda wished he'd never gone home. Tiedoll had run towards him, meaning to hug him – haven't Kanda dodged him. Tiedoll was sobbing uncontrollably, asking over and over where Kanda had gone, and that he had been so worried – what if Kanda hadn't come back! What if he'd been killed? Lavi asked how long they've been gone and Tiedoll looked at him surprised.

"You've been gone since the day before yesterday!" That had both Kanda and Lavi frown. They've been gone for one and a half days? How could they not remember that? "What have you been doing, Yuu? Leaving without saying anything... wait, you haven't... you haven't met a girl, have you?" Tiedoll suddenly got an expectant look, Kanda hated it.

"No", Kanda answered and not wanting to deal with his over emotional father he left the room and went to his bedroom.

He locked the door, not wanting anyone to disturb him, and he opened the doors to his balcony with the overlook of the ocean. The sun was high up in the sky, shining on the blue ocean. There was no wind and it was comfortably warm outside. The salty smell the ocean carried with it reached Kanda and he felt as if he was supposed to remember something. Something important.

But he couldn't for the life of him recall _what_.

* * *

Being king was no easy matter, Allen noticed. He and Lulubell had been deciding on what to do with the soldiers that were still loyal to the Earl. Mercym had suggested killing them – "easiest way to get rid of a problem" he said. But Allen didn't want to kill anyone, which was why he had them all locked up in prison. Then there was the official coronation – since even though he was crowned right after the Earl died, people hadn't really realized it yet. Cross said that to win the people's hearts then they have to 'show off' a bit, "'the return of the real king' and all those crappy cliché stuff", Cross told him.

Allen remembered that moment when Adam died. He'd been so worried when Kanda lied there, and the blood just kept coming. Allen didn't really remember what he did, he didn't want Kanda to die – he tried over and over again to think of any way to save him; but the wound was so great, and Kanda was slipping. And when Kanda's eyes began to close – Allen even asked for a miracle, to have the power to save Kanda.

And a miracle he got. Allen's wish was the one thing that let loose that mysterious power, which the Earl had been suppressing so desperately.

Adam was destroyed. Erased from the world. And just when he was gone the crown had settled upon Allen, and he could feel it. The power of the ocean was within his might. And without further delay he teleported himself and the two humans to that beach. And there he healed Kanda's wound, and watched as the two turned human again. That's when he realized another thing – a law that he must uphold. Even though it was painful for him, he knew that he had to- he was the ruler of the ocean now.

So, not listening to Lavi's protests, Allen erased their memories of himself and everything related to mers.

Mers were not allowed to be in contact with humans.

"Then there's the thing about the coronation. I was thinking that it should take place in the courtyard and then have a parade so that as many merpeople as possible will be able to see you in person", Lulubell's voice woke Allen up from his deep thinking. They were sitting in the royal study room. His cousin had charts and diagrams in front of her, which she used to try to calculate the best place for the coronation.

"That would be good", Allen answered and slipped back into his mind. He missed Kanda. He wished he could go see him, like they had earlier. But even if Allen went up to that beach Kanda wouldn't be there. He would never remember the significance of that beach.

As soon as Allen had free time he looked up Tim. He apologized to Tim excessively – for having him go through a hard time after Allen had snuck out that one night, for not saying anything when he had to leave – practically for everything. But Tim understood. And he was glad that everything was fine now.

"Though, I guess we won't be able to sneak out to the ship graveyard, huh?" Allen laughed and shook his head.

"I guess not", he answered, then Allen looked out through his window, up to the surface, Tim followed his gaze and then he said:

"You miss him?"

"Terribly", and Tim got a mischievous look on his face.

"Then why not go see him?" Allen turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"You know he won't be there, and besides the guards would have a fit if they found out I'm away."

"Oh, but it worked _so_ well last time! Come on, you know you want to!" Tim kept trying to convince Allen, who sighed and then smiled – a bit sadly.

"Fine, I'll go, I'll go!"

* * *

It was the day after he'd woken up on that beach. He hadn't gone out of his room – not even to eat, but Tiedoll wouldn't have any of that and had a maid to give him food.

Kanda tried to figure out what it was he was supposed to remember. He lied down on his bed, his eyes closed and smelling the salty air coming from the ocean – the one thing that kept taunting him, letting him feel that there was _something_, something that he was supposed to _know_.

Angrily he rose from the bed and started looking around his room; to see if there was anything strange there or if anything was missing. He opened his wardrobes, his chests; he meticulously looked through his bookshelves and drawers. That's when he noticed it. Something shimmering behind one of his wardrobes. He looked closer and noticed that it was made of some light fabric – like silk – but he couldn't reach it. He looked around for something long and thin to use to get it out, but when he found none he took the more forceful way – he moved the wardrobe just enough so he could stick his arm in and grab it. He took it out and examined it.

It was a torn sweater of some sorts. He didn't recognize the fabric and the color (or colors?) wasn't normal, it seemed to change color depending on the light. He held it close to one of the candles in the room and small orange light it gave of had the color change to a golden hue. He then took it out to the balcony, wanting to what other colors it could get, and when the moonlight shone on it the clothing became like silver in his hands.

Silver like a fish.

Silver like a mermaid's fin. No, a mer_man_'_s_.

And he remembered.

"Allen."

* * *

The ocean was calm. If it had been stormy Allen would've just calmed it down. To make things better the sky was clear of any clouds, and the white moon was almost halfway full, but nevertheless it shone strongly unto the lands, and the stars shone like they had during that special night Allen had snuck out a few weeks before.

With some effort he dragged himself up on the beach and then sat on the white sand, looking up at the stars. Kanda wasn't there – just like he'd predicted. But still, he felt so at ease just sitting there. He thought back on that night they'd met right here. How Kanda had treated his injury and saying such weird things. Allen smiled.

"You fucking idiot Beansprout!" He heard someone yell and suddenly he felt a fist hit his face, he fell down face first to the sand on his right. And then he slowly sat up again, massaging the left side of his face. He looked up to see:

"K-kanda? You came? H-how...?" Allen couldn't believe his eyes.

"This", Kanda said and showed Allen the torn garment. Allen stared at it and then at Kanda, who continued talking, "I found it and suddenly remembered everything. Why did you make me forget, Allen?" Allen could feel the accusation, he closed his eyes and he could feel tears build up.

"Humans cannot know of our existence. I had to... as king I must uphold the law", he then said after a moment's silence.

"Allen..." Kanda began, but he interrupted him.

"Why did you come here tonight, Kanda? I might not have been here..."

"I would have come every night, for the rest of my life."

"Why?"

"I have only one reason..." Kanda went down on his knees and gently put his hands on the sides of Allen's head.

"And that is...?"

"You", and just after he said that he kissed Allen softly and when they separated Kanda continued:

"I want to be with you for eternity."

* * *

_It's 15 minutes over midnight here, 26th of December, I wished I had finished a slight bit earlier so that it would have been put up the 25th. But I guess that for the people west of here will see it put up the 25th so, no worries ^^._

_I hope the ending was to your liking._

_And thank you all who have reviewed, but this on alert and fave list. You encouraged me to continue writing this - even when I felt that it would never be finished._

_Today, I'm uploading three chapters at once - chapter 5 of Hypnotic Revelations and chapter 4 of As Love Grows. See this as my Christmas gift to you who've been waiting for the continuation._

_Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and a happy New Year!_

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